Gundam Seed: A Retelling Original Version
by Akatsuki Leader13
Summary: AU What if there had been seven mobile suits at Heliopolis and Kira wasn't the only mobile suit pilot on the Archangel. KxL AxC OCxF. R&R!
1. Mobile Suit Page

Yo everybody! I've decided to try my hand at a Gundam Seed AU rewrite story. And yes I know it's been done to death but frankly I don't care. That and I've lost muse for the other story ideas I have.

This page here is basically where I'll put the Mobile Suits I come up with. I'll update this page as the story goes on. So check back here from time to time.

* * *

"_Raven huh. Well, let's see what this thing can do." _Chris Dante

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X305 'Raven'  
Unit Type: Prototype attack use transformable mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 1x dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon (usable in both modes)  
Mobile Armor Mode Armament: 2x "Ahura Mazda" short-range energy cannon, 2x M2M3 76mm machinegun  
Pilot: Christopher Dante  
Appearance: Appearance wise, it resembles the Raider Full Spec, save it possess the Raider's dual shield cannon and the additional thrusters on the back of the legs.  
Colors: Primary midnight blue with red trim. White thighs, biceps, and face.  
Info: The Raven is the predecessor to the GAT-333 Raider Full Spec and the technologically superior GAT-X370 'Raider'. Originally, it was suppose to the second last G-Weapon to be completed in Heliopolis. But due to a accident early in it's construction, it was almost scrapped altogether, but ultimately it was completed the day before the attack on Heliopolis. As a result of this, Rau Le Creuset and the team he sent to Heliopolis, were completely unaware of it's construction and completion. Like the Raider and the Raider Full Spec, the Raven can transform into a bird-like Mobile Armor and can double as a atmospheric flight platform for other Mobile Suits.  
Author's Notes: I happen to be a big fan of Biological CPUs and their machines, the Raider in particular. So ultimately, I chose the Raider as the basis of the Raven.

* * *

"_I have to say, I think I'm in love." _Saul Kessel

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X204 'Surge'  
Unit Type: Prototype high-speed attack mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 1x "Hakenfaust" piercer lock (triple claw), 1x DES-G07D+ long anti-armor sword, DES-G07D+ short anti-armor sword, 1x 55mm high-energy beam rifle  
Pilot: Saul Kessel  
Appearance: The Surge resembles the Blitz, save it lacks the shield/weapon unit on the right arm of the Blitz and has additional thrusters mounted on it's back.  
Color: Dark green with blue trim.  
Info: The Surge is the fastest of all of G-Weapons that had been built at Heliopolis and is the sister unit to the Blitz. The Surge was designed for high-speed and melee combat and tactics. Although it is easily one of the fastest Mobile Suits ever designed, it tends to drain it's battery faster than the other G-Weapons, if it overuses it's high speed capabilities.  
Author's Notes: This one was a little harder to come up with. I wanted it to be something different than the other captured G-Weapons. Since there was already an all-round type (Duel), a long range, anti-armor type (Buster), a stealth/special weapons type (Blitz) and a command type (Aegis). I figured that the fifth one should be a high speed type. So I took the Blitz and removed the shield unit and other weapons and replaced them with some of the weapons of GAT-SO2R N Dagger N. Originally, I had planned on giving it beam sabers instead of the solid weapons but I figured that creators of the machine would give it solid melee weapons over the beam sabers as the energy weapons would further drain the battery.

* * *

"_For the Black Hawk!" _battlecry of the 11th Fleet

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: A wide range weapons and armaments that varies between pilots  
Pilot: members of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet  
Appearance: same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: varies between machines, but all of the mobile suits of the 11th have a crimson monoeye instead of the pink one that normal ZAFT mobile suits have.  
Info: The mobile suit of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. A high-speed and highly customized machine, these GINNs are superior to their standard counterparts. Only the pilots and mechanics of the 11th Fleet, know what modifications have been installed in their machines. Some of these modifications are legal. Others not so much. Which is one of the reasons they are so secretive about their machines. It should be noted that two of the original prototypes survived from before the war. John Alaric's 'Farsight' and Lisa DeCosta's 'Lady Luck'. The Farsight was lost shortly after the death of Alaric. Leaving the Lady Luck as the only ZGMF-1017MX Prototype left in service.

* * *

"_Never falter! Never waver! Always victorious!" _personal motto of Diana Kessel

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-515X 'Panther Mk II'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility commander type mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 1x MA-MA4A heavy sword, 1x M7070 shield-plus 28mm vulcan system, 1x MMI-M7S 76mm heavy assault machingun, 1x 76mm sniper rifle (optional), additional weapons vary  
Pilot: Diana Kessel  
Appearance: same as a CGUE  
Color: Dark purple with black strips on the forearms and shins. White trim and a white roaring panther head on the right shoulder.  
Info: Diana's second 'Panther'. She received it after the death of Alaric and the original Panther, a GINN High Maneuver Type Custom, was shot down by the Earth Force's 'Hawk of Endymion', Mu La Flaga. She was the fifth mobile suit that Mu shot down at Endymion. Though she survived, she felt humiliated by being beaten by a single mobile armor and has vowed to defeat Mu La Flaga the next time they meet which has yet to happen. The members of the 11th Fleet consider La Flaga a doomed man for having the Bloody Panther after him. Overall, the Panther II, is an extremely well-rounded and flexible machine.

* * *

"_Damn. Does that guy always have a stick up his ass?"_ Ajay to John Alaric after meeting Lucius Raveshaw for the first time.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom 'Tyr'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 1x modified MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun with a mounted 175mm grenade launcher, 2x combat knives, 1x 76mm sniper rifle (optional), additional weapons vary  
Pilot: Lucius Raveshaw  
Appearance: same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: A rather plain dark green with gray trim. A black fist on the right shoulder. The right hand and forearm are painted black.  
Info: True to Raveshaw's beliefs, the Tyr has the fewest of upgrades among the machines of the 11th Fleet. Raveshaw, for the most part, dislikes close-combat but is an extremely skilled rifleman. Particularly at medium to close range, often tearing apart enemies in a hail of expertly aimed bullets before they can strike. The machine was given it's name after an early battle of the BV War where he lost the right hand and forearm of his machine. Rather than retreating and risk ruining his perfectly laid out plan, he used one of his GINN's combat knives to destroy seven mobile armors and insured the success of his plan. Afterwards, John Alaric named his mobile suit after the one-handed Norse God and it's been called that ever since.

* * *

"_He's wild, undisciplined, cocky, and the worst soldier I have ever met. That being said, he's easily one of our best. And if it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have survived Endymion." _Lucius Raveshaw on Ajay Cortez

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom 'Hyena'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 2x forearm mounted folding combat knife, 1x MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun, 1x 76mm sniper rifle (optional), additional weapons vary  
Pilot: Ajay Cortez  
Appearance: same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: Light brown with crimson claw marks on the forearms, shins and left shoulder of the machine. White teeth are painted along the area under the machine's monoeye and a trio of white teeth on the right shoulder  
Info: Favoring close-range tactics, Ajay replaced his mobile suit's sword with a pair of forearm mounted combat knives. He's prone to discarding his rifle in the middle of battle and tearing through enemy mobile armors with his knives.

* * *

"_Power crushes all!" _Basque Gideon

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom 'Bruticus'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 2x shoulder mounted Gatling gun, 2x M68 'Pardus' shin mounted 3-barrel missile launcher, 1x M69 'Barrus' heavy particle cannon  
Pilot: Basque Gideon  
Appearance: same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: Dark gray with black trim. A crimson fireball on the right shoulder.  
Info: Basque Gideon believes in raw strength and power ensures victory, and his mobile suit, Bruticus, reflects this belief. While others will use heavy weapons as secondary armaments for specific situations, Basque uses them as standard equipment. Though his machine isn't as fast as the GINNs of the 11th Fleet. He makes up for it in sheer firepower.

* * *

"_Luck is always on my side." _Lisa DeCosta

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom 'Lady Luck'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 1x MA-M3 heavy sword, 1x MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun  
Pilot: Lisa DeCosta  
Appearance: pretty much the same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: Dark green with crimson trim. A pair of red stylized L's on the right ahoulder.  
Info: This machine, like it's pilot has had a bizarre history. When Lisa DeCosta was in the Academy, she proved herself to be an excellent pilot but seemed to be cursed with terrible luck. Though she always managed to complete and pass her tests and training missions, she frequently damaged or destroyed her mobile suits in the process. Though always surviving virtually unscratched. At the same time, Commander John Alaric was difficulties with the prototype of future GINN High Maneuver Type Custom, resulting in the loss of several pilots and machines. The worst being, GINN High Maneuver Type Custom Prototype X-04, which had seriously injured and killed several pilots while only suffering minor damage. Leading many to call it cursed. Alaric having heard of the good but unlucky Lisa, had her assigned under his command and immediately gave her the unlucky X-04. The two seemed made for each other as her first test flight with the X-04 went off flawlessly, shocking many of the members of the 11th Fleet. In fact, the terrible luck of the two seemed to reverse. Not only that, but her good fortune spread to her squadmates, leading to a number of them miraculously surviving normally fatal situations. As a result of this, both her and her machine, the X-04, earned the nickname 'Lady Luck'.

* * *

"_Faster than lightning. Armor as weak as paper. It takes a special kind of crazy to pilot one of these machines. Luckily, we have three people crazy enough to pilot these things. Cause there's no way in Hell that anyone else would get those death traps."_ Ajax, on the GINN High Maneuver Type Custom Speartip Variant

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom Speartip Variant  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 1x MA-M3 heavy sword (all), 1x MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun (Hilda), 1x 170mm anti-armor rocket-propelled grenade launcher (Mars), M68 'Cattus' 500mm recoilless rifle (Herbert)  
Pilot: Hilda Harken, Mars Simeon, Herbert Von Reinhardt  
Appearance: Same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: Black torso, hands, feet and head, dark purple shoulders, arms and legs. A black star on the right shoulder of each machine.  
Info: An offshoot of GINN High Maneuver Type Custom, designed to primarily be used for the infamous Speartip maneuver of the 11th Fleet. Only three were made and were given to the three best high-speed attackers in the 11th Fleet, Hilda Harken, Mars Simeon, and Herbert Von Reinhardt. Unlike the other GINNs of the 11th Fleet, they have larger batteries, increasing their range. But to accommodate the larger battery, their armor is thinner than other GINNs, making them extremely fragile, though faster and nimbler than other GINNs. In fact early in the war, a lucky shot on Hilda's GINN, resulted in severe damage to the machine and the loss of Hilda's right eye.  
Author's Notes: Any Gundam Seed fan should recognize the pilots of these machines.

* * *

"_All traitors deserve only one thing. Death."_ Zane Scirocco

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017 Zane Scirocco Custom  
Unit Type: Custom general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 1x MA-M3 heavy sword, 1x shoulder mounted shield, 1x MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun  
Pilot: Zane Scirocco  
Appearance: A standard GINN with a shield mounted on the left shoulder  
Color: Entirely blood red  
Info: The mobile suit of the young pilot Zane Scirocco, protege of Rau La Creuset. Very little is known about Zane. But what is known is that he's a vicious and ruthless fighter. Doing anything and everything to kill his enemy and win. His ruthless and the color of his machine earned him the nickname 'the Bloody Ripper' from the Earth Forces.  
Author's Notes: Now this one took a surprising amount of time, despite the fact it's fairly simple. One thing that always bugged me about Seed was that they had one of the best Char clones yet he never once piloted a red mobile suit, unlike the other great Char clone, Zechs Merquise/Milliardo Peacecraft. Originally, this one was suppose to be the mobile suit of Diana Kessel. But I felt that it wasn't right to give it to someone who hates Rau as much as she does. Then as I began to refine the story, I realized that I didn't have someone for Chris to fight at Jachin Due at the end of Seed. This led to the creation of Zane Scirocco. Then I had the surprisingly difficult time coming out with a suitable mobile suit for him to use initially. Then I remembered my scrapped idea for Diana's mobile suit and gave it to him.


	2. Phase One: False Peace

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.

**Gundam Seed: A Retelling**

Phase One: False Peace

January 25 C.E. 71

Aboard the Vesalius

Outside Heliopolis

Saul Kessel put on his red helmet. He heard a click, signaling that the suit was sealed.

He turned to close his locker and caught his reflection in the small mirror on the locker door. Brown eyes, half obscured by messy locks of black hair. His parents always complained about his messy hair. However, he really didn't care how he looked. Another source of annoyance for his parents. But then he was always the black sheep of the family.

But most of his thoughts revolved around this mission. Orb was suppose to be neutral and yet they were apparently making new weapons with the Earth Alliance. Wasn't Orb suppose to be neutral? So why were they helping the EA? It just didn't make sense to him.

Yet they were. And now he and the rest of the team were suppose to attack a colony of a neutral nation and steal said weapons so they could be studied and eventually used against-

Yzak shouted something at him, bring him out of his thoughts.

"What was that Yzak?" he asked his teammate.

"Jeez! How the hell did someone like you become a red coat?!" Yzak shouted at him. "I said, hurry up and get the rest of your gear on!"

Yzak frequently asked him how someone like him became a ZAFT red coat as he usually didn't act like one. And it was kinda true. He tended to be rather lazy when he wasn't in a combat situation. But he was a skilled and unlike Yzak, a level-headed pilot and probably the best hacker on the entire team.

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down Yzak." he said in a lazy tone as he put on his jetpack and his combat gear.

"It's no wonder, that with all that shouting, you're hair turned white." he added, earning chuckles from Rusty, Nicol and Dearka as they started leaving for the hanger.

Yzak scowled at him and was about to say something, when Athrun intervened.

"Enough. Save your bickering until after the mission is over."

"Sorry." Saul politely said.

Yzak grunted and made his way towards hanger with the others.

"One of these days, he's gonna piss off the wrong person." he said to himself as he and Athrun followed the rest of the team to the hanger.

"What?" Athrun asked.

"Just talking to myself." he replied. "Good luck out there, Athrun. Let's hope this mission goes off without a hitch. There's way too many things that could go wrong."

Athrun nodded. "Same."

* * *

Inside Heliopolis

Kira Yamato sighed as he typed away at his laptop. Profeesor Kato had given him a lot of work do and the guy who was suppose to be working with on this had decided about thirty minutes ago to take a break and had yet to resume working.

"You know, you could actually start working again." he said as he looked up from his work and at the only other person in the gazebo.

The other person, a Coordinator named Christopher Dante, was currently playing his guitar. Chris, as he preferred to be call, was sixteen years old and a few inches taller than him. He had grayish-green eyes and dark brown hair that was styled into short, slicked back spikes. He was wearing blue jeans with a simple leather belt, a black t-shirt, and a gray unzipped hoodie. A pair of dog tags hung around his neck

Kira had only known him for a couple of months. And he was actually a bit surprised when he met him. Kira had heard rumors that Chris frequently picked fights with people. Leading Kira believe that he was violent person. Something that Kira would later learn wasn't true. Though he did get into fights, he had never seen Chris start a fight. Rather, all of the fights he did get into were in the defense of someone getting bullied by someone else or to protect himself.

"I could." Chris replied as he continued playing his guitar. "But you're so much better at this than I am."

"Professor Kato asked for us both to do this. So could you please get back to work."

"Alright, alight. Tell you what. You finish that page your on and then I'll take over for awhile and you can take a break. Deal?"

"Deal." Kira replied as he resumed his work.

A news report came on about the ZAFT invasion of Kaohsiung as Birdy landed on Chris's head.

"Birdy. Birdy." the mechanical bird chirped from it's new perch.

"Hey! Get off of there!" Chris shouted as he tried to brush Birdy off of his head.

Kira chuckled at the scene as he half listen to the news report.

"Hey Kira! Chris!" they heard Tolle shout.

Both of them turned their heads to see Tolle, Miriallia, and Chris's younger sister, Elizabeth. (Also a Coordinator and one year younger than Chris.)

Elizabeth was an inch shorter the Mir and had green eyes and light brown, almost dirty blond colored, shoulder length hair. She was wearing faded blue jeans with a rip in the left knee, and a bizarre purple and black stripped hoodie.

"Hi guys." Kira greeted as they walked up to the gazebo.

"Yo Tolle, Mir, Liz." Chris greeted as Birdy flew off his head and landed on Kira's shoulder.

"So this is where you two are hangin' out." Tolle said. "Professor Kato was looking for both of you."

"Don't tell me he's got more work us to do for him?" Chris asked in an annoyed tone as he set aside his guitar.

"I think so." Mir replied. "He's asked us to bring you both to him right away."

Kira sighed. "We're not even done what he dumped on us yesterday."

"Yeah." Chris said in agreement. "Why can't the professor do some of this himself?"

"Why are you complaining? Chances are, you would have had Kira do most of it anyway." Elizabeth said as she sat down next to her brother.

"Well, he should give it to Kira. He's the tech savvy one." Chris said in his defense.

Tolle and Miriallia sat down beside Kira, watching the news broadcast on Kira's laptop.

"Looks like there's heavy fighting Taiwan now." Tolle commented as he watched the news.

"Yeah. Looks like ZAFT has it's eyes on Kaohsiung and it's mass driver, if they haven't already taken it over." Chris said as he started playing "Imagine" by John Lennon on his guitar.

"Taiwan. That's not far from Orb. Will the homeland be safe?" Mir asked with concern.

"Don't worry Orb is neutral. ZAFT isn't gonna attack it. And the Earth Alliance isn't gonna do anything either. At least, as long as they don't lose Panama and Victoria." Chris answered. "But even then, Eurasia will keep the Atlantic Federation and those Blue Cosmos bastards from doing something crazy."

"Yeah. I have to say we're pretty safe." Liz said in agreement with her brother. "Especially here in Heliopolis. After all, why would anyone want to attack Heliopolis? We're neutral and there's absolutely nothing here."

* * *

Elsewhere

The Creuset team silently moved through the bowels of Heliopolis, heading towards the secret hanger of the Archangel.

When reached the hanger, Athrun performed a series of handsignals. But it was unnecessary, they already knew what they were suppose to do. They quickly and silently separated, spreading out throughout the hanger and began planting explosives throughout the hanger.

They quickly regrouped and made their way towards the interior of Heliopolis. It was time for phase two.

* * *

Aboard the Vesalius

Rau Le Creuset glanced at his watch and smiled. It was time. By now, his team should have successfully infiltrated Heliopolis, planted the explosives, and were ready for the second phase to begin.

"It's time." he said to Captain Ades.

"Weigh anchor!" Ades ordered. "Vesalius launch!"

The instant the Vesalius and Gamow moved towards Heliopolis, alarms went off in the Heliopolis's Dock Control room, in the bridge of the recently docked Earth Alliance ship and in the hanger control room of Archangel.

While Heliopolis scrambled it's defenses, the crew of the Archangel prepared it for take off if needed. When explosions tore the Archangel hanger, killing the crew members in the hanger, the entire command crew and the pilots of the G-Units.

* * *

Morgenroete Factory District

Heliopolis

Lt. Murrue Ramius braced herself as tremors from an explosion shake the colony.

"What the hell?! Did ZAFT fire at the colony?!" Nick Dante shouted as the tremors subsided.

"I don't know! But we have to get the G-Weapons to the Archangel, now!" she replied to the Morgenroete crew chief.

"The Surge, the Blitz, the Buster and the Duel are all ready to go! But we need more time to prep the Aegis, the Raven, the Strike and the Striker Packs for transport!" Chief Dante replied.

He turned to several of Morgenroete crew members. "Mendez, Carter, take your crews and get those four machines out of here and to the Archangel!"

"Aye chief!" the two men answered.

He then turned to several other Morgenroete workers. "Jenkins, Riley, Johanna, get the rest of the crews and get remaining teams and get those machines ready for transport!"

The two men nodded and quickly went about their tasks while the woman, Johanna Dante, looked at her husband with concern.

Nick put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "I know you're worried about the kids, but they're smart. They're probably already on their way to a shelter as we speak. They'll be fine. We have a job to do. We'll find them when we're finished here, I promise."

Johanna weakly nodded and joined the rest of the crews working on remaining mobile suits.

He turned to Lt. Ramius as drew his sidearm. "How the hell did ZAFT find out about this?"

Murrue shook her head. "I have no idea. Though I don't think it matters anymore."

* * *

Professor Kato's Lab

Tremors shook lab, sending various equipment falling to the ground.

_'What was that?'_ Chris thought as steadied himself by grabbing the edge of the desk that he, Kira, and Sai were at.

Once the tremors died down, he called out, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah." Kuzzey said weakly.

"I'm okay." Mir answered.

"Same." his sister said.

"I'm fine." Tolle said.

The blond haired guy that was waiting for the Professor, nodded.

"Did a meteor hit the colony?" Sai asked.

"I don't know, but we should get to the shelters just in case." Liz said.

"I have to agree with Liz." Chris said. "We don't know what's going on. The smartest thing to do is to get to the shelters."

* * *

Elsewhere

"That's it." Yzak smugly said as he looked through his binoculars. "Just like Commander Le Creuset told us."

"What? That if prod them enough, that they'd come out of their hole?" Dearka replied.

"Of course." Yzak replied in a cocky tone. "After, the Naturals are stupid and pathetic."

Saul shook his head at Yzak's comment. "Don't underestimate your enemies Yzak. That will get you killed. And remember, the Naturals were the ones to create us."

"Natural lover." Yzak shot back.

"I don't love Naturals." he replied. "Nor do I hate them. They're simply people, just like us. But that enough of the philosophical debate. We still have a job to do. Miguel and Matthew will soon be here."

A moment later, two GINNs appeared over the nearby Morgenroete factory district and opened fire, destroying many of military vehicles that were escorting the mobile suits.

They activated their jetpacks, flying towards four of the six machines while the GINNs systematically destroyed the remaining escort vehicles.

"Destroy the parts we can't carry and the factories." Yzak ordered over the comm. "According to the intel, there should be six machines."

"There's four here which means the other two must still be in factory." Saul said over the comm as he opened fire on the guards below.

"Rusty and I will continue on to the factory." Athrun said. "Yzak, you guys take these four."

"Alright." he replied before turning to the rest of the team. "Listen up, those who take the one of those machines, disable the self-destruct first."

Saul, Yzak, Nicol, Dearka and half of the ZAFT soldiers landed near the transport vehicle of the first machine and quickly wiped out the guards closest to it.

"I got this one!" Saul shouted as he climbed into an open side hatch on vehicle. "You guys get the other three!"

_'Let's see what Orb and the Earth Alliance has come up with.'_

* * *

Elsewhere

More tremors shook the build as Chris and everyone else from Professor Kato's lab reached the elevators and stairwell.

"What is going on here?" he said to no one in particular.

"Let's worry about getting out of here first, then we worry about that." Sai replied as he pushed the elevator call button.

The second he did, the power failed.

"Well, it looks like we're taking the stairs." Tolle said as he opened the door to the stairwell.

There other people climbing the stairs towards the surface and shelter pods.

"Hey! Do you guys know what's going on?" Tolle asked them.

"I heard we're under attack from ZAFT." one man said.

"Yeah, there's mobile suits inside the colony." another said.

"What?!" Chris shouted disbelief. "Why the hell is ZAFT attacking us?!"

Suddenly, the blond haired guy that had been waiting for Professor Kato, took off down a hallway.

"Wait! Come back!" Kira shouted as chased after the guy.

"Kira!" Tolle shout at his friend.

"I'll go after them, you guys head to the shelters. We'll meet you there." Chris said as he took off after the two of them before anyone could object.

It didn't him long to catch up with the two of them. Unfortunately, the second he did catch up with them, part of the hallway behind him collapsed. Sending him stumbling to his hands and knees.

"You're a girl!" he heard Kira shout.

Chris looked up to see that person he thought was a guy, was indeed a girl.

"Yeah. What'd you think I was?" she rudely said.

Kira, looking embarrassed, said in his defense, "I...ah...just thought that-"

A tremor shook the building, interrupting him.

"I think we should get out of here, now." Chris said as he picked himself up.

I agree." the girl said. "You two go back. I need to check on something. By myself."

"Are you kidding? The entire hallway has completely collapsed. We can't go back that way." Chris said.

"Yeah, there's no way for us to go back now." Kira said. "But there should be more shelters in the factory district. C'mon!"

* * *

Morgenroete Factory District

Athrun, Rusty, and the ZAFT soldiers with them, were near the hanger of the two remain EA machines. They had for the most part, avoided combat, thanks in part to the distraction caused by Miguel and Matthew in their GINNs.

They had quietly moved around to one of the smaller side entrances of the now heavily guarded warehouse.

Athrun slowly cracked open one of the side doors and he and Rusty tossed in grenades. A few seconds later, there was a pair of explosions.

"Go go go!" he ordered to the rest of the team.

They charged into the warehouse, guns blazing.

* * *

Elsewhere

Saul sighed as finished rewriting the machine's OS. He couldn't help but wonder about this rather crappy OS. You'd think that Orb and the EA would have been able to come up with a proper OS for these things.

"Well, I'm done." he said over the comm. "How are you guys coming?"

"What?! Already?! How the hell can such a lazy ass like you, be done so fast?!" Yzak shouted in disbelief.

Dearka chuckled. "Figures you're the first one done."

Nicol said, "You always were the fastest at this kinda thing."

"What can I say, I know the language of computers." he replied. "You guys better hurry up."

Of course, Saul knew it was gonna take them a few more minutes before they were done. The only reason he was done so fast was that he was gifted when it came to computers.

He decided to pass the time while he waited for the others to finish by looking over the specs of this machine.

_'The GAT-X209 'Surge'. Hmm...Phase Shift Armor. That sounds impressive. Let's see what this thing's got for weapons. Wow! I'm starting to like this thing. I hope I get use this baby after the mission is done.'_

* * *

Morgenroete Factory District

Athrun fired off a burst of rounds at an armed Morenroete employee. The man fell to the ground while he heard a woman cried out, "NICK!!"

"Hey Athrun! We got a problem here!" Rusty shouted. "Someone screwed up! There's three machines here!"

"What?!"

"Take a look."

Athrun took a glance at the Earth Alliance mobile suits. With all the fighting, he hadn't really payed any attention to them. But now he realized that someone had made a major mistake. There were three prototypes in the warehouse. Meaning that there was seven machines, not six like their intel had said.

_'How could our intel be that off?'_

"We have to destroy the third machine!" he ordered. "Someone has to get into that machine and activate it's self-destruct!"

* * *

When Chris, Kira and the blond girl reached the factory district, they found a warzone. Armed Morgenroete employees and Heliopolis security forces were fighting off ZAFT soldiers around three mobile suits.

The mobile suits were unlike anything he had seen before. ZAFT's mobile suits tended to bulky and simple looking things while these ones were slimmer and more elegant. They remained him of a sci-fi version of an ancient samurai warriors.

"Father, I knew you betrayed us all!!" the girl shouted, bringing Chris from his thoughts.

Suddenly, an armed, female Morgenroete employee spun around and aimed her rifle at them.

"C'mon!" Kira shouted as he grabbed both his and the girl's arms and started running. "We have to get out of here!"

They quickly reached the nearest shelters. Two of them were full, but the third had a green light over the door, signaling that there was still room in that shelter.

Kira pushed the call button and a voice came over the intercom.

"Is there someone out there?" the voice asked.

"Yes. My friends and I need to get in. Please open the door." Kira answered.

"Friends? As in more than one?"

"Yes."

"Sorry but we're full to capacity as it is. Try the shelters in the left block."

"There's a girl with us." Chris said. "At least take her."

The man sighed and said, "Okay, we'll take her."

The door opened and both he and Kira shoved her in.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me-" the rest of her cries were silenced when the door closed, sealing the shelter.

"Well, let's get going Kira."

They quickly ran back to the warehouse. They were halfway across the catwalks when they spotted a ZAFT sniper on another catwalk, aiming at that woman from earlier.

"Look out! Behind you!" Kira shouted.

The woman spun around and fired at the sniper, killing him.

"CHRIS! KIRA! What the hell are you two doing here?!" the voice of Chirs's aunt, Johanna, called out from on top of one the mobile suits.

"Long story! Don't worry about us! We're heading to the shelters in the left block!" Chris shouted back to his aunt.

An instant later, there was an explosion coming from the left block.

"Both of you! Get down here now!" the woman they had saved, ordered.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice Kira." he said. "Now the question is, how are we gonna get down there?"

"I got an idea." Kira replied before he leap over the railing and onto the middle mobile suit that the woman was on.

"I know I'm gonna regret this." he said before jumping off the other side of catwalk and onto the machine his aunt was on.

He landed on the machine's left shoulder. A little sore but otherwise alright.

"What's going here?! Why is ZAFT attacking us?!" he shouted as his aunt fired off rounds from a pistol at a ZAFT soldier.

"Long story! Basically, ZAFT wants the machines we've been building!" Johanna replied as she fired the last rounds in her handgun, killing the soldier.

"Isn't that a treaty violation?!"

Johanna was about to reply when an explosion tore through a part of the warehouse. Flames quickly spread across the warehouse.

"Damn! This place isn't gonna last much longer!" she said. "Get in the mobile suit! We need to get out of here!"

Chris nodded. The whole warehouse was going up in flames. He quickly scrambled into the cockpit, followed by his aunt.

A massive explosion tore through the warehouse as the GAT-X303 Aegis, the GAT-X305 Raven, and the GAT-X105 Strike broke through their cradles and stood up.

* * *

So what do you think?

I haven't decide yet whether I should it Kira/Flay or Kira/Lacus. Though either way, Flay won't be all crazy like she in the first two-thirds of the series. I couldn't stand that in the series.

Also if anyone comes up with a better title, feel free to tell me.

Please review.


	3. Phase Two: It's Name: Gundam

HeavyarmsBuster-01: Thanks for the review. I have decided on pairings. It will be Kira/Lacus and Flay/OC. In fact, I'm gonna completely removed the Flay/Kira romance that's in the first half of the series.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.

Phase Two: It's Name: Gundam

January 25 C.E. 71

Morgenroete Factory District

Heliopolis

As the flames consumed the warehouse, three mobile suits emerged from the ruined building. Their movements were slow and shaky, like the machines were being operated by trainees piloting a mobile suit for the first time.

The Aegis pulled away from the other two machines as a pair of GINNS landed nearby the three Gundams.

Chris watched his aunt struggle to operate the mobile suit. Though he knew they were still in danger, he couldn't help but feel concerned about Kira, Liz and the others.

"Damn. They still haven't perfected the OS yet. How did they ever expect this thing to be combat ready with this OS?" Johanna said in frustration.

Chris couldn't help be agree with her. The operating system was clearly of an inferior design. Which was very bad for them, if those GINNs decided to attack.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came over the radio. "Pilot of the Raven, identify yourself."

"This is Johanna Dante of Morgenroete. Lt. Ramius? Is that you?"

"Yes." Lt. Ramius answered. "It's good to see that you managed to survive and get that machine out of there."

"Is Kira with you?" she asked.

"The boy? Yes, he's here."

_'Thank god.'_ Chris thought to himself.

He had lost enough friends because of this war.

"Good." Johanna said. "Now listen to me Lt. Ramius, the OS still isn't ready for a Natural like you and myself, to pilot. Allow Kira to pilot the machine."

"What?!" both he and Lt. Ramius said in disbelief.

"Kira's a Coordinator, just like my nephew. They should been able to better handle these machines than we can at the moment."

"What?!" he said again.

"I can not allow a civilian to pilot a top secret machine." Ramius replied.

Suddenly, the two GINNs holstered their rifles, pulled out their swords and started running at them while the Aegis flew off.

Johanna quickly pushed a button on the console, activating the Raven's Phase Shift armor. It's dull gray body turned to midnight blue with red trim. One of the GINNs raised it's sword over it's head. She barely managed to raise the Raven's shield cannon to block the sword strike and push back the GINN.

"Dammit." Johanna cursed. "We don't have much time Murrue. It's the only way to save these two machines."

Johanna then moved out of the seat and said in voice that allowed for no argument, "Get in."

Chris quickly sat and began to experiment with the controls, all the while thing, _'What the hell am I doing in this thing?'_

"You probably gonna have to rewrite the OS to better accommodate a Coordinator like yourself." she said.

"Oh great." he mumbled to himself as he began rewrite the system.

But the GINN wasn't about the time to do it. It lunged at him with it's sword. Chris barely sidestepped the attack.

"Dammit. I need more time." he said as he continued to type away while keeping an eye on the GINN.

GINN swung it's sword again and again at him. But each time, he dodged the blows. And Chris noted, that the machine's movements as well as his own reactions were becoming quicker and smoother. The mobile suit's movements weren't perfect but definitely better than it was earlier. The pilot of the GINN was clearly getting angry as his swings were getting wilder and wilder. Making it easier for him to avoid the attacks and rewrite the OS.

"This will have to do for now." he said to himself as he finished his typing.

He hadn't completely rewritten the OS, but he didn't have the time to do that while dodging attacks. But it was enough for him to properly pilot the machine without too much difficultly.

The GINN swung it's sword in a downward arc. He sidestepped it and punched the GINN's head, sending it falling to the ground.

Chris took this momentary stop in the fighting to check on the machine's computer for it's weapons.

_'Let's see..."Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan guns, beam sabers, and a dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon. Hmm...Mobile Armor Mode. I don't think I'll be trying that one today.'_

The GINN quickly got back onto it's feet. He could imagine that the ZAFT pilot was getting pretty pissed by now. The GINN charged at him, it's sword pulled back. The GINN pilot clearly wanted to destroy him and this mobile suit.

_'Well, let's try the Igelstellungs'_

Chris squeezed the trigger and the two head mounted Igelstellungs fired. The rounds did nothing to the GINN's armor but they did catch the pilot off guard and he stopped his charge.

The GINN sheathed it's sword, drew it's rifle and fired. Rounds struck the mobile suit, violently shaking it but the armor held.

_'Wow. This thing's armor must be quite strong if it can take bullets from a mobile suit rifle without any real damage. Let's see what this thing can do.'_

He raised the machine right arm, with it's arm mounted cannon and fired. A pair of energy shots streaked towards the GINN.

Unfortunately, the cannon's calibration was off. The first shot missed entirely while the second shot severed the GINN's right arm at the elbow. The GINN staggered back a feet steps and took off into the air, fleeing Heliopolis.

Suddenly, there was a loud, nearby explosion. Chris looked around and spotted the Strike stumbling backwards from an explosion.

"KIRA!" he shouted.

To his relief, the Strike stayed standing and appeared to be relatively undamaged. The only sign of the other GINN was flaming wreckage strewn around the ground.

"Lt. Ramius, Kira, are you two alright?" Johanna asked over the comm.

"I'm fine." Kira replied. "But that woman's injured and unconscious."

"Okay." she said. "There's a park not far from here. We'll go there and regroup. Got it?"

"Got it." Kira replied.

Johanna then put her hand on Chris's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

For the first time, he realized that he was breathing heavily, sweating buckets and he had a deathgrip on the controls. He felt a little light-headed and scared but at the same time, he had this lingering sense of excitement, like he had just gotten off an intense amusement park ride. He let go of the controls and watched his hands slightly tremble for a moment.

He couldn't help but wonder how they had survived that battle. This was his first time in a mobile suit and yet he had managed to beat a trained ZAFT pilot while rewriting part of the OS.

His hand reached up and wrapped a hand around his grandfather's dogtags. His grandfather had always said that these dogtags were lucky and would protect the wearer. Before, he had passed it off as has his grandfather being superstitious. Now, he wasn't so sure.

He nodded. "I'll be alright."

"Hey, what's this machine's name?"

"It's the GAT-X305 Raven." Johanna answered. "And the machine that Kira is in is the GAT-X105 Strike."

"The Raven huh? So you made this thing?"

"Yes. But at the moment, I can't tell you much else. This is all suppose to be top secret."

"Is uncle Nick apart of this as well?"

The second he asked that, he regretted it. A pained look spread across her face.

"He's dead."

"Wh-what?"

"A ZAFT soldier shot him." she answered, the pain evident in her voice.

Chris hung his head in sorrow. This damned war had claimed another person he cared about.

"Come on. We have to go. We can mourn later." Johanna said in a reassuring tone.

He gripped the controls again and moved the machine towards the park.

When they reached the park, both the Strike and the Raven knelt down and deactivated their Phase Shift armor and their cockpits opened up. At the same time, much to both Chris's and Johanna's surprise, Liz, Tolle, Sai, Miriallia,and Kuzzey arrived.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Chris shouted as he and Johanna climbed out of the Raven while Kira climbed out of the Strike. "You're suppose to be in the shelters!"

As soon as he reached the ground, he rushed over and embraced his little sister in a hug. He usually wasn't the type for this kinda thing but thought of his sister out there in the middle of a battle, had scared him half to death.

"Sorry brother." Liz said. "But when got outside, we kinda ended up in the middle of a battle between you and those GINNs."

"You guys were amazing! And those machines were awesome!" Tolle shouted like a kid in a candy store. "Where'd those machines come from? And-"

"Can we save the questions for later? Johanna interrupted. "There's an injured person in the cockpit of the Strike and I'm gonna need some help carrying her out of the cockpit."

"What do you want us to do?" Kira asked.

"Kira, you, Tolle, and Sai, will help me get her out of the cockpit. Chirs, I want you to get back in the Raven and finish rewriting the OS. ZAFT may have left, but it's likely that they'll be back and you and Kira are the only ones who can pilot these machines. And once we get Lt. Ramius out of the cockpit, I want to do the same."

"Actually, I finished rewriting the OS already."

"What? Wow. That's amazing. I knew you Coordinators had impressive abilities but...wow." Johanna said in amazement.

"What about the rest of us?" Mir asked.

"Just stay out of the way for now." Johanna answered. "Okay, let's get to it."

Chris climbed back into the Raven's cockpit while Kira and the others went about their tasks.

Chris sighed as he sat down and pulled out the keyboard. He knew Kira was good at computers but the fact that he had completely rewritten the Strike's OS while under attack no less was unbelievable. He doubted that most Coordinators could do that.

He resumed rewriting the OS. He had to admit, this machine was impressive. And he was kinda curious about the full extent of the Raven's abilities. He almost wished that ZAFT would launch another attack just so he could see it's abilities.

Keyword there being 'almost'. If ZAFT did attack again, it would only endanger Heliopolis and it's people.

A short while later, Johanna climbed into the Raven's cockpit.

"How's it coming?" she asked.

"Almost done." he replied. "How's the Lieutenant?"

"We treated her wound as best as we could. She's still unconscious though."

"So what now?" he asked.

"Well, the Strike is low on power from it's battle, so I'm gonna go see if I can find a transport trucks with one of the Striker Packs for the Strike."

"Striker Packs?"

"Basically, armament and a battery recharge for the Strike." Johanna replied. "Unlike the Raven, the Strike has few build in weapons. Instead, it can become equipped with various different weapon packs. Allowing the machine to serve multiple roles on a battlefield. The Raven on the other hand was designed primarily for space and atmospheric combat."

"Wow. That sounds quite impressive."

"Yes, the Strike is easily the most impressive and powerful of the prototypes we made. But I always preferred the Raven and the Aegis."

"The Aegis?"

"That was the third machine in the warehouse."

"Oh. What's so special about this machine and that one?"

A grin spread across Johanna's lips. "They both transform into mobile armors. When I was a child, I always loved the idea of a transforming robot. In fact, that's one of the reasons I fought to save the Raven from being scrapped after the accident."

"There was an accident?"

"Yes. Early in the construction of the Raven, there was an accident. Half of the crews working on it had died or were seriously injured. Afterwards, the higher-ups wanted to scrap the Raven and focus on the other units. Myself and some of the others that had been working on these machines had decided that we shouldn't discard the Raven just because of the accident. We argued that the Raven had for the most part, survived the accident and could be salvaged and that by abandoning it, all those who died would have died in vain. Eventually, they agreed to allow us to finish it."

"Hey, there is one that's bothering about this whole thing."

"What?" she asked.

"Why did ZAFT attack us? Orb is neutral. Even if it was developing new weapons, that still isn't a reason to violate the treaty and attack Heliopolis."

"We violated the treaty." she said.

Chris instantly stopped typing. "What?!"

"We worked on these machines with the Earth Alliance. That injured lieutenant is an EA officer."

"Why would the Orb government do that? They wanted to stay out of war."

Johanna shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm not a politician, I just build these things."

Chris had never met the Lion of Orb, but his grandfather had on several occasions and always spoke highly of him. Athha had always spoken of maintaining Orb's neutrally, yet if he authorized building these mobile suits with the EA, than how could Orb stay neutral? What reason did he have for violating the treaty like that?

"Well, I'm going now. I'll be back in a little while." Johanna said as she climbed out of the cockpit. "Let's hope that ZAFT has decide to leave rather than risk further damage to the colony by trying to capture these to machines."

He resumed his typing. He wondered what would happen now. These machines were clearly top secret and he doubted that the authorities would just let all of them walk away after seeing these things, and in the case of Kira and himself, pilot these mobile suits. Though his aunt did work for Morgenroete, so that may help them out a little bit. Maybe she'd be able to convince them to let Liz and the others go, while he and Kira would help them make a better OS for these machines.

When he finished rewriting the OS, Chris decided to climb out of the Raven. As he stepped out of the cockpit, there was a gunshot followed by the EA officer yelling, "Get out of those machines!"

Deciding that he was not about to argue with an armed military officer, Chris quickly climbed down the Raven as Tolle and Kuzzey who had standing on the Strike, climbed down.

"Stop! What are you going?!" Kira shouted. "They helped get you of the cockpit and tended to wound."

"I am grateful for your help." the Lieutenant said. "But these two machines are part of a top secret military project. It isn't something civilians should be allowed to touch carelessly."

"Ah c'mon. Kira and Chris were piloting those things not to long ago." Tolle said.

She ignored Tolle and motioned with her gun for everyone to get together in one group. Which they quickly did.

"Now tell me your names." she ordered.

"Kuzzey Buskirk."

"Sai Argyle."

"Miriallia Haw."

"Tolle Koenig."

"Elizabeth Dante."

"Chris Dante."

Kira defiantly glared at her for a moment. "Kira Yamato."

"Lt. Murrue Ramius. I'm an officer of the Earth Alliance." Lt. Ramius said. "I'm sorry to tell you this, I can not allow any of you to leave."

"What?!" was everyone's response, expect for Chris, who had already expected this.

"As I said, you have been exposed to a military secret and until I can reach the proper authorities and they can determine what to do with all of you, I can not allow you to leave my sight."

"We're citizens of Orb. You can't boss us around." Tolle said definitely.

Chris shook his head. "In case you haven't noticed Tolle, she's got a gun. So you probably shouldn't antagonize her."

"You should listen to him. It will make things easier on everyone." Lt. Ramius said. "Now, where is Johanna Dante?"

"She left, saying that she was going to find one of the Striker Packs for the Strike." Chris answered.

"Good. That will speed things up a bit." she said as she lowered her gun. "Okay, Chris, Kira, I want one of you to get back in one of the mobile suits and get on the radio and try to contact any surviving members of the Earth Forces in Heliopolis."

"I'll do it." Chris said. "The Raven has more power than the Strike does at the moment."

He climbed back into the cockpit of the Raven. He sat down and started up the mobile suit.

"This is the GAT-X305 Raven. Any members of the Earth Forces still in Heliopolis, please respond." he said over the radio.

No response. So he tried again. Again no response. He couldn't help but wonder if there were any Earth Forces left alive in Heliopolis. He tried a few more times with no success.

He turned off the machine and stepped out of the cockpit. "I can't get anything! Either we're being jammed or...there's no one left to here my calls!"

"Alright then, you can come down! We'll try again a little later!" Lt. Ramius replied.

As he climbed back down, a large truck pulling trailer pulled up. The truck stopped near the Strike and his aunt stepped out.

"Lt. Ramius, it's good to see you're up." she said as she walked towards them. "I got the Launcher Striker."

"Good. Let's get this thing hooked up." Ramius said.

"Kira, get back in the Strike while I get the Launcher Striker ready for you." Johanna said as she back to the truck.

She stepped back into the cab of the truck. She pushed a button on the dashboard. The trailer folded open revealing the Launcher Striker.

"Kneel down with the Strike's back facing in the side of trailer."

Kira followed her orders, bring the Strike next to the trailer.

"Okay. I'm gonna mount the entire unit on the-"

A loud explosion from above, interrupted her. Everyone looked up. There was a ball of fire coming from a part of the central shaft of Heliopolis. A ZAFT CGUE emerged from the fireball, followed by an EA Moebius Zero.

"Chris! Get in the Raven now!" Johanna shouted.

The second he had seen the ZAFT machine, Chris had already started running to the Raven. He quickly climbed into the machine and turned it on as Johanna started to mount the Launcher Striker on the Strike.

During this, the CGUE sliced off part of the barrel of the Moebius's gun, rendering it helpless and now had it's eye set on the Strike and the Raven.

Chris aimed the Raven's arm cannon at the CGUE and opened fire. But CGUE effortlessly dodged every shot as it flew towards them.

_'Damn. This guy is good. Gonna have to try something different or we're all gonna die. Well, let's see what this thing can do in the air.'_

The Raven leapt into the air, it's thrusters blazing. Chris fired it's cannon at the CGUE as it flew away from where the Strike was. He had to distract the ZAFT machine long enough for the Launcher Striker to be mounted on the Strike and for Liz and the others to get away from the area.

And sure enough, the CGUE turned and began to fire at him as it dodged the energy shots.

_'Yes, follow the little birdie. Don't worry about the defenseless machine on the ground.'_

Chris honestly didn't know how long he could hold out by himself against this machine. The pilot was clearly an experienced ace and he on the other hand, was piloting a mobile suit for the second time.

* * *

Rau Le Creuset was beginning to become annoyed. Athrun had reported that not only had the Strike stayed in the hands of the Earth Forces but that the supposedly scrapped seventh machine had been built and was still in their hands. He had rendered that pest, Mu La Flaga, defenseless and had been about to destroy the two deactivated mobile suits, when the seventh machine, the GAT-X305 Raven if he recalled correctly, came online and started firing at him and trying to draw him away from the other machine. Which the Raven's pilot had succeed in doing. After all, he couldn't exactly destroy the Strike while that other active mobile was firing at him. Rau had to admit that the pilot had some skill, but he was clearly a rookie pilot.

"You're pretty good with a gun but let's see how you fair against a sword." he said as he switched from the CGUE's rifle to it's sword.

* * *

Chris heard over the radio, "You're pretty good with a gun but let's see how you fair against a sword."

The CGUE suddenly switched from it's gun to it's sword and charged. Chris quickly fired the arm cannons at the ZAFT machine, but it sidestepped every shot as it rocketed towards him.

At the last second, Chris blocked the sword with the shield part of the Raven's cannon while it's left hand reached for the beam saber on the right side of it's waist.

He drew the saber, activated it and slashed at the CGUE, but it quickly parried the blow with it's own sword.

Chris swung again and again at the CGUE. Every time, it effortlessly dodged, sidestepped, blocked or parried his attacks. While when ever it attacked, Chris barely did the same.

_'Damn. This guy is really good. At this rate, unless Kira can lend me a hand, I'm not gonna last much longer.'_

* * *

Elsewhere

Aboard the Archangel

Lt. Natarle Badgiruel and the handful of crew members that currently currently had made up the bridge crew of the Archangel rushed to get the Archangel online. They had been attacked by ZAFT. The captain, the command crew, the G-Pilots, and majority of the crew that had been outside the Archangel when the bombs when off, were dead. And they had no idea what was going on outside of the hanger.

"All systems are green. We're ready to go." Chandra reported.

Unfortunately, there was no way for them to open the hanger doors, if they were even still operational. So they were gonna have to a make a door.

"Take us out, maximum speed." Lt. Badgiruel ordered. "When the ship reaches maximum speed, fire the Lohengrins."

A minute later, as the Archangel neared the hanger doors, the two powerful Lohengrin cannons fired. Destroying the doors in a massive explosion.

* * *

Elsewhere

Everyone heard and felt the explosion. Everyone stopped and looked up. There a massive fireball tearing through a part of Heliopolis. They all watched as the Archangel flew through the fireball.

_'First a ZAFT attack, now this. What else is gonna happen today?'_ Chris thought.

* * *

Please Review.


	4. Phase Three: Collapsing Land

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.

Phase Three: Collapsing Land

January 25 C.E. 71

Heliopolis

Chris stared at the warship as it flew into Heliopolis. It wasn't a ZAFT vessel. If it was, it would have blasted through Heliopolis's superstructure. This ship had come from within Heliopolis's superstructure. Which meant that it had been built here, likely along with the mobile suits. But it still raised the question, was it an enemy or a friend?

The CGUE switched from it's sword back to it's rifle and flew towards the warship. It strafed the warship, but it caused little to no damage to the ship.

"Guess that answers my question." he said to himself.

The CGUE turned and it looked like it was about to perform another strafing run on the ship, when it flew downwards. Heading towards where the Strike was and...

_'Liz!'_

Chris pushed the Raven as his as it could go. He had to intercept the CGUE before it attacked. But it was too late, the CGUE opened fire on the Strike and the people near it.

"NO!!" Chris shouted.

The Strike knelt down in front of the path of the CGUE's bullets, protecting Liz, Johanna and the others.

"Damn coward!" Chris yelled as he fired the Raven's cannon at the CGUE.

The CGUE flew upwards, dodging the shots. As it did, the Archangel fired four missiles at the CGUE. The CGUE destroyed two of the missiles but the other two missed and hit Heliopolis's central shaft.

_'Dammit. We can't risk anymore damage to Heliopolis.'_

Suddenly, Chris heard a beeping noise. It was coming from the power status bar. The Raven's power was at thirty percent.

_'Damn.'_

"Kira." he called over the comm. "I'm low on power and I doubt Heliopolis is gonna be able to take much more. We have to end this fight now. I'll try to keep him busy, you try to hit him with that big gun of your's. Got it?"

"Got it." Kira replied.

Chris aimed and fired the cannon at the ZAFT mobile suit. Yet again, the skilled pilot of the CGUE avoided the shots. The CGUE turned it's attention back to him and raised it rifle at him.

It was about to fire when a massive beam streaked towards it. The ZAFT pilot barely dodged the beam, but his mobile suit lost it's right arm. Unfortunately, the beam continued traveling and pierced Heliopolis's superstructure.

"No..." Chris said weakly as the CGUE fled through the hole in Heliopolis.

Heliopolis had been devastated. Chris couldn't help but wonder if Heliopolis could recover from such damage.

* * *

A Short While Later

Aboard the Archangel

The Strike and the Raven landed inside one the Archangel's mobile suit catapults. They knelt down, side by side, and lowered their hands, allowing their precious cargo to get off. Lt. Ramius, Tolle, Kuzzey, and Mir got off the hands of the Strike while Liz, Sai, and Johanna stepped off the hands of the Raven.

"Lt. Ramius!" Ensign Badgiruel called as she and members of the Archangel's surviving crew ran towards the people and the mobile suits.

"Ensign Badgiruel."

Badgiruel saluted her superior. "I'm relived to see that you're alright."

Ramius returned her salute. "You as well. I'm pleased to see that you were able to protect the Archangel. You do realized that you saved our lives."

"Indeed." Johanna said as she stepped forward. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, Ensign Badgiruel. That CGUE would have likely would have destroyed the Raven and likely the Strike."

At that moment, the cockpits of the Raven and the Strike opened and Kira and Chris climbed out.

The Archangel's crew stared in disbelief at the two teenagers climbing out of the two top secret mobile suits.

"Come on." Chief Murdoch said. "What's going on here? Those machines were piloted by a couple of kids."

"Lt. Ramius, Mrs. Dante, what's going on here?" Badgiruel asked.

The two were about to explain what happened, when a man interrupted. "Wow. Now this is a surprise."

A blond haired man wearing a purple EA flight suit walked towards the group. "I'm Lt. Mu La Flaga of the 7th Orbital Fleet." he said as he saluted.

The crew of the Archangel returned the salute.

"I'm Lt. Murrue Ramius of Sector 2, 5th Special Division."

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel of the same division."

"Johanna Dante of Morgenroete."

Mu nodded. "I'd like permission to come a board. Who's in charge here?"

Ensign Badgiruel looked hesitant for a moment before answering, "The captain and all of the officers of this ship have all died in the explosions at the beginning of the attack."

"What?" Murrue said in disbelief.

"Therefore, I believe Lt. Ramius is now in command." Badgiruel said. "There are only a dozen or so of us left, mostly non-commissioned officers and workers from Morgenroete."

Mu sighed. "Oh, man. What a disaster. Well, in any case, permission to come about a board Lt. Ramius?"

"Permission granted."

Mu nodded and glanced over at the group of teenagers standing around the mobile suits. "And who are those two?"

Johanna answered. "The one who piloted the Strike is Kira Yamato and the Raven's pilot is my nephew, Christopher Dante. They both stumbled into the factory district when we were under attack. Thanks to their help we were able to defeat a pair of GINNs, drive off that CGUE and protect the last two machines."

"What?! These two kids were able to defeat two GINNs?" Natarle said in surprise.

"What happened to the pilots of the G-Units?" Mu asked.

"They were with the captain at the time of the attack and died as well." Nararle replied.

Mu approached Kira and Chris. "You two are Coordinators, aren't you?"

The crew of the Archangel collectively gasped.

"Yes." they both answered.

A group of armed soldiers suddenly pointed at the group of teenagers.

Lower your weapons now, dammit!!" Johanna shouted in a loud commanding voice, startling the soldiers. "They are Coordinators but they are not a part of ZAFT! You trigger happy idiots! If they were a part of ZAFT, they would have just taken the mobile suits and left!"

"Lower your rifles men." Lt. Ramuis ordered.

The soldiers hesitantly complied.

"Lieutenant, I would like an explanation." Badgiruel said.

"It's not that surprising, considering Heliopolis belongs to a neutral nation. So, it'd natural to find Coordinators, who wished to avoid the war altogether, living here. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right." Kira answered. "Especially since I'm a first-generation Coordinator."

"Which means your parents are Naturals." Mu said. "What about you?"

"Lt. Ramius is right about me and my sister." Chris answered. "We're both second-generation Coordinators and we were born in the PLANTS. But our parents, fearing that a war was going to break out, sent us out to Heliopolis to live with our aunt and uncle shortly before the war broke out."

"Than your parents are still living in the PLANTS?" Murrue asked.

Chris hesitated. "No. They died early in the war."

"I'm sorry for causing such a fuss." Mu said. "I was just curious. Nothing more."

"So what do we do now?" Natarle asked.

"Now? Well, I've just been shot down and the Le Creuset Team is waiting outside for us. He's a persistent fellow, he'll be waiting for us. Especially after that defeat you two gave him."

"Wait. Your saying that the pilot that guy Kira and I had fought and managed to beat a short while ago was the ZAFT ace, Rau Le Creuset?" Chris said in disbelief.

Mu nodded.

"How did we manage that?"

"I'd have to say it was a little bit of skill and a lot of luck." Mu replied.

* * *

Elsewhere

Aboard the Gamow

"D-Equipment? Does Commander Le Creuset plan on storming a fortress or something?" Yzak said.

"What's gonna happen to Heliopolis?" Nicol asked in concern.

"It's gonna be bad." Saul said as he watched a GINN being armed with heavy missiles. "A single misfire could cause massive damage to Heliopolis."

"It serves them right." Yzak said. "Calling themselves a neutral state. What a joke."

"So, the people of Heliopolis should suffer for the crimes of the people who run the Orb government. For the crimes of something they weren't even aware of?" Saul asked before shaking his head. "Cause that's what's gonna happen with those heavy weapons."

Yzak, Nicol and Dearka didn't say anything.

Saul sighed. "This whole situation really sucks."

No one disagreed with him.

* * *

Elsewhere

The Bridge of the Archangel

Lieutenants Ramius and La Flaga, Ensign Badgiruel, and Johanna Dante stood on the bridge discussing their situation.

"We've loaded up the last of the surviving supplies from Morgenroete. Chief Murdoch is currently overseeing the resupplying of the Strike and the Raven as well as the repairs for your Moebius Zero." Johanna reported. "The Strike and the Raven should both be combat ready in about 10 to 15 minutes, though I can probably get the crews to speed things up. Moebius, however, won't be combat ready for quite sometime."

"Thank you." Murrue said as she sat in the captain's chair.

"So, what's our next move?" Johanna asked.

"Once the Strike and the Raven are resupplied, we'll leave before anymore damage befalls Heliopolis." Murrue replied.

"So you're gonna rely on Chris and Kira then?"

"What?" Badgiruel interrupted. "You can't be serious about letting those kids pilot the mobile suits again. Shouldn't Lt. La Flaga pilot one those machines at least?"

"Have you taken a look at the operating systems for those machines?" Mu said. "An ordinary human couldn't pilot those machines."

"And before you ask about having them change the OS of the G-Units back to their original format, you should now that the original OS didn't work that well. And don't ask me to try to rewrite the OS for Naturals. That's not my field of expertise. I worked on the bodies of the machines, not the programming." Johanna said. "So, we're gonna have to rely on them for protection."

"I agree." Murrue said. "Without Lt. La Flaga's mobile armor, the Raven and the Strike are our only means of defense from ZAFT's mobile suits. And they are the only ones that can pilot those machines are those two boys."

"But Lt. Ramius, we can't just allow two civilians, much less two children, to operate top secret military hardware." Badgiruel argued.

"It's a long way to the moon, and I highly doubt that we'll be able to get there without a fight." Mu said. "And without those machines we're pretty defenseless against mobile suits."

Ensign Badgiruel hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't say anything.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I'm going back to the hanger to see if I can get the crews to hurry up." Johanna said as she started to walk out of the bridge.

Murrue stood up and said, "I'll go talk to Kira and Chris about this. Lt. La Flaga, the bridge is yours."

* * *

Archangel Crew Quarters

"No. I won't do it." Kira said upon hearing what Lt. Ramius wanted from them.

Chris on the other hand, wasn't sure what to do. He really didn't want to get involved in the war that had taken so much from him, yet at the same time, his sister, his aunt, his friends, were all on board of this ship and he had the power to protect them.

"Please don't get us anymore involved than you already have." Kira continued. "We know there is a war going on out there but we don't want any part of it. That's why we chose to live here in a neutral nation."

"I'll do it." Chris said.

Kira, Liz, Tolle and everyone else started at him in surprise. So Chris explained his decision.

"Now, I don't want you to think that I'm calling you a coward Kira, cause I'm not. But as long as my friends and family are on this ship and I have the power to protect them, I will." He turned to Ramius and added, "But make no mistake, I will not fight offensively against ZAFT. I'll only fight to protect this ship and the people I care about on board."

"I understand. Thank you." Lt. Ramius said. "I suppose one is better than none."

"Lt. Ramius. Report to the bridge at once." a voice on the intercom spoke.

Ramius stepped over to a nearby comm panel.

"What is it?" she asked.

Mu's voice answered. "There are mobile suits approaching. Get back up here and assume command. You're the captain."

A surprised look crossed her face. "I am?"

"I have seniority, but I don't know the first thing about this ship."

"Very well. Prepare the Archangel for takeoff. Order all hands to level one battle stations. Is your mobile armor ready?"

"No."

Then Lt. La Flaga, please take charge of the CIC." Ramius turned around and added, "Chris, get to the hanger and into one of the mobile suits. You'll have to go out alone."

"Actually." Liz said as she stepped forward. "I could pilot the second machine."

Chris response to his sister was simple, "NO."

"But I'm a Coordinator. I can pilot the other mobile suit." Liz argued.

"I said no. I'll go out by myself."

"That's suicide and you know it!"

"I don't care! I'd prefer risking my own life rather than let you go out there with me!"

"Enough." Lt. Ramius said, interrupting their argument. "If Kira does not want to pilot one of the mobile suits and you wish to pilot it than I'll allow you to pilot it."

"You can't be serious!" Chris shouted.

"We don't have any other choice." Ramius said.

"You people aren't being fair!" Kira said, his fists clenched and shaking at his sides. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Alright then. C'mon Kira, we don't have much time." Chris said.

Kira nodded and the two of them sprinted to the hanger.

"Thanks Kira for changing your mind. If you hadn't, my sister really would have piloted the Strike and risked her life out there." He than added, more to himself than to Kira, "This war has taken too much from me already."

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

Chris sat in the Raven's cockpit which was now in the port mobile suit catapult. Kira and the Strike was in the starboard catapult.

Johanna's voice came over the radio. "Alright, Kira, we're equipping the Strike with the Sword Striker, so we won't have a repeat of last time. Hold on for a second."

There was a pause.

"There's four mobile suits incoming. What? The Aegis? Okay, it the Aegis and three GINNs armed with...WHAT?! Are they nuts?!"

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"The GINNs are armed with heavy weapons used for taking out heavily fortified bases. A single misfire could be disastrous for Heliopolis."

Kira gasped while Chris just shook his head in shock. This was insane. How could ZAFT use those kind of weapons inside of a civilian colony.

"Be careful and good luck." Johanna said as the catapult doors opened.

"Chris Dante. Raven taking off!" Chris shouted just before the catapult activated, launching the Raven.

A moment later, the Strike launched.

_'Well, let's give this Mobile Armor Mode a try.'_

Chris pushed the button to transform the mobile suit and a couple seconds later, he found himself sitting in the cockpit of a bird-like mobile armor.

"Hop on Kira. We need to get rid of these guys before Heliopolis takes anymore damage."

The Strike landed on the back of the Raven and the two machines sped towards the four enemy mobile suits. When they almost reached them, the two GINNs armed with heavy missiles, broke away from the others and headed towards the Archangel.

"Kira, will you be able to fight these two by yourself while I deal with those two GINNs?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then hop off and good luck."

The Strike leapt off the Raven and moved in to engage the remaining GINN and the Aegis while the Raven turned around and chased after the GINNs.

The GINNs were fast but the Raven in it's Mobile Armor Mode was faster. One of the GINNs, seeing the Raven catching up to them, turned around and fired a trio of missiles from it's ankle mounted missile pods. Chris opened fire with the Raven's shoulder mounted guns at the missiles, destroying two of them and evaded the third.

_'Not bad. But it's gonna take more than that to get rid of me.'_

One of the GINNs fired two of it's large missiles and some of it's ankle mounted missiles at the Archangel. The Archangel performed evasive maneuvers as it's point defenses opened fire, destroying the large missiles and dodging most of the smaller ones. The missiles that missed hit Heliopolis, further damaging the already damaged colony.

"Stop it!" Chris shouted as he transformed the Raven back into it's Mobile Suit Mode and fired it's cannon at the GINN.

The GINN dodged the twin shots and fired off the last two heavy missiles and it's remaining smaller missiles at him, before discarding the launchers and pulling out it's holstered rifle and firing. Chris fired both the arm cannon and the Igelstellungs, desperately trying to destroy as many of missiles as he could before they hit him or Heliopolis. He managed to destroy one of large missiles and a couple of smaller ones. He aimed at the second large missile and was about to fire when the GINN fired a upon him, throwing his aim off and missing the missile. The missile impacted the central shaft of Heliopolis, damaging it.

"Are you trying to destroy Heliopolis?!" he shouted as he turned and fired at the GINN.

The GINN dodged the first two pairs of high-velocity rounds, but the second shot of the third pair tore through the it's left leg, but unlike the last one, this one kept fighting rather than fleeing. Seeing no other option, Chris aimed and fired one last shot. The twin rounds tore through the GINN's chest and a second later, it exploded.

Chris barely registered fact that he had just killed someone. This wasn't the time to think about that. Heliopolis and the Archangel were still in danger.

* * *

Elsewhere

Kira wasn't fairing all that well. The pilot of the GINN that was armed with the heavy energy cannon was firing like a maniac, not caring whether he hitting the Strike or Heliopolis. Didn't he realize that he was destroying peoples' homes every time he missed? Kira had to stop him.

The GINN's pilot, Miguel, was growing angry. He just couldn't seem to destroy the Strike and it's Natural pilot. Adding to this was the embarrassment of his previous battle and defeat at the hands of the Strike. Miguel wanted payback.

"Get behind it Athrun!" he shouted over the radio.

Suddenly, the Aegis, which had stayed out of the fight up to this point, lunged at the Strike from behind. Kira barely evaded the Aegis. But the second he did, Miguel fired at him again. Kira dodged the beam and struck back by throwing the Sword Striker's beam boomerang at it. The GINN dove over the boomerang and prepared to fire again. But Miguel didn't expect the boomerang to return, severing his machine's right leg. Before the pilot could retaliate, Kira struck, driving his large sword through the chest of the GINN, cleaving it in two.

"AAAAAAAARGH!!" Miguel screamed before his mobile suit exploded.

Kira turned to the Aegis, ready for anything. Kira wasn't sure who the pilot of the Aegis was. He had seen whom he believed to be Athrun steal the machine, but was that same person piloting the Aegis now?

"Kira. Kira Yamato!" Athrun's voice came over the radio.

Kira gasped. He knew that voice. It was Athrun's voice. His oldest friend had been part of the attack on his home and was facing him in combat.

"So it is you, isn't it, Kira?"

* * *

Elsewhere

Chris chased after the remaining GINN, who was harassing the Archangel at the moment. However, before he could engage it, the GINN was hit by one of the Archangel's Gottfrieds, destroying the GINN's waist and thighs. Just before it exploded, the GINN fired off all of it's missiles. The missiles flew wildly into the central shaft of Heliopolis. The shaft broke in two, causing Heliopolis to start collapsing all around them.

"No..." Chris said as he watched his home for almost a year crumble into dust.

Suddenly, the effects of the massive vacuum that was beginning created, violently pulled on the Raven. He struggled to control the mobile suit, but it was pointless. There was nothing he could do but sit back and pray that he would survive.

* * *

Elsewhere

"Athrun? Athrun Zala?!" Kira said in disbelief. "Why...Why are you here?"

"You should talk!" Athrun shot back. "What are you going in that thing?!"

Before Kira could answer, parts of Heliopolis began to fall all around them. Kira looked around in horror. Heliopolis was tearing itself apart. A few seconds later, both Kira and Athrun found themselves being violently pulled outside the colony.

Kira screamed as he pulled into space. He heard Athrun shout out his name before the Aegis was pulled out in the different direction.

* * *

Elsewhere

Aboard the Gamow

Saul, Nicol, Dearka and Yzak watched as Heliopolis broke apart.

"Heliopolis..." Nicol weakly said.

"Jeez...How the hell did Miguel and the others screw up so badly?" Dearka said.

"The council's gonna have Commander Le Creuset's head for this." Saul solemnly said. "There's no way he can get out of something like this without some form of punishment. Using D-Equipment inside a civilian colony. What was he thinking?"

* * *

A Short While Later

In the Newly Formed Heliopolis Debris Field

Chris stared out at the debris field of what had been his home for a few days short of a year. But now it was gone. Nothing more than dust in the wind.

_"X3...Ra...05 Str...res..."_ a static filled voice called over the radio.

A few seconds later, it came back, this time at full strength. "X305 Raven, X105 Strike, please respond."

"This is the Raven." Chris called over the radio. "Is that you Archangel?"

"Affirmative Raven." the voice of Ensign Badgiruel answered. "What's your status?"

"Shaken but I'm okay."

"Can you see the Strike?"

Chris took a quick look around. He spotted the Archangel in the distance, but couldn't see the Strike.

"No, I can't see him."

"Very well then. Return to the ship."

"On my way."

He started to make his way back to the ship as Ensign Badgiruel continued to call the Strike. A few seconds later, Kira responded, "Strike here. I'm fine."

"Do you have the ship's position?" Badgiruel asked.

"Yeah." Kira replied.

"Then return to the ship."

"Right."

Meanwhile, Chris had made it about a third of the way to the Archangel when spotted a blinking light. A closer inspection revealed a damaged Heliopolis lifeboat.

"Archangel. I've found a damaged lifeboat out here. I'm bringing it in." he called over the radio.

"What? Who gave you authorization to do that?" Badgiruel said.

_'Oh, you gotta be kidding me.'_

"I'm bringing this lifeboat in."

"You can't just bring in a civilian lifeboat without proper authorization."

Chris shook his head and pushed some of the buttons next to the radio, filling the radio with static. "What was that Archangel? You're breaking up. I didn't get that last transmission. You can tell me when I come aboard with the lifeboat."

Chris then turned off the radio, picked up the lifeboat and headed towards the Archangel.

* * *

Sorry, it longer than I wanted to post this one but that's exams for you. I probably should have the next two to three chapters up before the end of next week. Oh and I fixed the mistakes in the second chapter.

Review!


	5. Phase Four: Phase Shift Down

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Seed.

Phase Four: Phase Shift Down

January 25 C.E. 71

Aboard the Archangel

Chris laid on one of the bunks while Kira, Liz and the others were talking amongst themselves. Chris was tired at the moment and didn't really feel like talking. He also wished he hadn't left his guitar in the Professor's lab.

The ship suddenly shook for a moment.

"What was that?" Flay Alster asked.

Flay Alster, one of the people that had been in that lifeboat he had rescued. Chris wasn't all that crazy about her. Sure he found her physically attractive, but her personality irritated him. Stuck up people did that to him. If she wasn't so struck up and wasn't arranged to marry Sai, he probably would have asked her out at some point.

"I think we're on the move." Chris said. "Where we're going, I don't know."

"Ah, Kira, Chris, there you are." Mu said as he entered the set of bunks they were sitting at. "Both Murdoch and Johanna asked me to tell both of you that because we're so understaffed, you two are to are responsible for maintaining your machines."

"Our machines?" Kira said. "When did they become our machines?"

"I have to agree with Kira. Don't these machines belong to either Morgenroete or the Earth Forces?" Chris asked as he sat up.

"Technically, you're right. But for the moment, it's been decided that since you're the only ones who can use'em, they're you machines."

"Sure, we piloted those machines twice but we're not soldiers." Kira argued.

"So the next time they attack and you refuse to pilot it, those will be your last words, huh?" Mu said.

"I have to agree with him, Kira. Until we get to an Earth Forces base and we can disembark, everyone here is in danger. And at the moment, we're the only ones who can protect the ship and the people on board." Chris said.

"He's right Kira. Both of you have the power to make a difference. Why not put it to good use? We have very little time, including time to think it over." Mu said before starting to walk away.

"Excuse me sir." Sai said. "But where are we going?"

"To the nearby Eurasian military base, Artemis. Of course, we're likely to have some problems actually getting in." Mu answered before he left.

Chris sighed. "Well Kira, should we go down to the hanger?"

"This isn't...I..." Kira mumbled out before running off.

"Kira!" Tolle and Mir shouted.

"I'll go talk to him." Chris said.

"Hold on minute." Flay said. "You mean that you and Kira were piloting those mobile suits?"

"Yes." Sai said. "You know how one of the mobile suits brought lifeboat you were on. Well, the pilot of that mobile suit was Chris."

Flay turned to Chris "You? You were the one?"

"Yeah."

"But why would the two of you be piloting mobile suits?" she asked.

"Well, my sister, Kira and I are Coordinators." he replied. "And just to tell you, if you're one of those people who discriminates against Coordinators, then do us all a favor and don't say anything."

Chris stood up and headed towards the hanger.

* * *

Liz watched her brother walk away. Ever since their parents had died, he had become bitter towards people who discriminated again Coordinators or Naturals, or in the case of Blue Cosmos, utterly hated.

Of course, things had been different for the first month and a half after their parents died in a Blue Cosmos terrorist attack. During that time, he became angry at just about everyone and everything. He picked fights with just about anyone. Sometimes he won. Other times he didn't. She had feared that they'd find him dead in an alley before long. Then, about a month and a half after their parents died, their grandfather payed them a visit from Orb. His second night there, he took Chris out for a couple of hours. What was said and done, was known only to those two. But when they returned, both were beaten up. Although Chris was unconscious and in worse condition.

After that, Chris had begun to change. His anger at the world faded away. He stopped going out and picking fights with people. He still got into fights but now he only fought to protect himself and others.

Seeing the uncertainly in Flay's eyes, Liz spoke, "My brother, Kira and myself, may be Coordinators. But we aren't with ZAFT."

"Kira and Chris are both still one of us. Treasured friends." Mir said.

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

Kira stood before the Strike. Lt. La Flaga's and Chris's words echoing through his mind.

"Just because I can pilot a mobile suit, doesn't mean that I'm a soldier." Kira said to himself.

"Of course it doesn't. Why would that make you a soldier?"

Kira turned to his left. It was Chris.

"Kira, at the moment, both of us aren't soldiers. We're just two guys who are trying to protect what we care about." Chris said as he approached. "When we reached an EA base and can disembark, then we must decide whether to stay or to go, to become soldiers or to remain civilians. When that time comes, you will decide what you want to do for yourself, just as I will."

"Have you decided?" Kira asked.

"Actually, I haven't really thought about it. But do not think that what I decide is what you should decide."

Suddenly, alarms went off.

"Silhouette detected. Enemy unit detected." a voice over the intercom said. "All military personnel, report to your stations at once. Repeat..."

"That was fast." Johanna said as she approached the two of them. "Well, come on you two. We need to get you two into some flight suits."

* * *

Elsewhere

"Looks like we're heading into another battle." Sai commented as the alarms sounded.

"I wonder what Kira has decided." Mir said.

"If he refuses, our chances of surviving drop considerably." Sai said.

"Hey! My brother will protect us even if Kira doesn't!" Liz shouted at Sai.

"I didn't mean it like." Sai said in his defense. "I meant that the odds of our survival are greater if both Chris and Kira are fighting."

"We should do something." Mir said.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"We've been sitting on the sidelines and relying Kira and Chris to protect us."

"If we have the ability to make a difference, then we should put it to use." Tolle said.

Liz, Sai and Kuzzey nodded in agreement.

* * *

A Short While Later

Kira and Chris started putting on their flight suits. Kira was putting on a light blue one while Chris was wearing a midnight blue one.

Kira had to admit, he was a little surprised that Tolle, Sai, Mir, Liz and Kuzzey had volunteered to help out aboard the ship. Though what was more surprising, was that Chris was letting his sister help out, yet earlier he had been against her piloting the Strike.

"Hey Chris."

"Yeah?"

"Why weren't you against your sister helping out now?" Kira asked.

"Well, the Archangel is dangerously understaffed right now. So, she's actually safer if she helps out." Chris answered. "And she's still in the same amount of danger regardless of whether she's a part of the crew or not."

"Well, from the looks of things, you've made up your mind Kira." Mu said as he entered the room in his own flight suit.

"Yes." Kira said. "Like both you and Chris said, the three of us are the only ones that can protect this ship and everyone on board. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not a soldier and certainly don't want to fight. All I want to do is protect the people on board this ship."

"It's the same for all of us." Mu said. "You won't find many people who fight merely for the sake of fighting. We fight because it's the only way to protect ourselves and what we care about."

"So what's the plan?" Chris asked.

* * *

Aboard the Gamow

Saul Kessel sat in the cockpit of the Surge. Waiting for the order to launch. He had to admit, he was excited to try out the Surge in actually combat. He had studied the machine and all of it's capabilities. The Surge was easily the fastest of all the mobile suits. Hell, chances are, it's the fastest mobile suit ever made. He could imagine the men and women of the infamous 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet under the command of the Black Hawk, desiring to get their hands on this machine, or any of the other mobile suits from Heliopolis for that matter.

Scratch that. The Black Hawk had been dead for months. His older sister, Diana Kessel, was the 11th Fleet's commander now.

Saul shuddered at the thought of his older sister. She was the complete opposite of him. Where he was rather lazy, calm, and quiet. She was a real slave driver. Loud, uptight, forceful, and about a dozen other unpleasant words he could use to describe her. She was also a skilled hacker, though much to her annoyance, not as good as him.

Regardless of it's commander, the 11th Fleet was still the same outfit. A group of pilots that varied from extremely professional soldiers to soldiers, that if they had been in any other group in military, they would have been kicked out of the military or thrown in a military prison. All and all, they were a wild and unpredictable group of soldiers, who had only two things in common. A tremendous loyalty to their commander, both his sister and the late John Alaric. And their mobile suits. The machines they piloted were a bunch of heavily customized GINN High Maneuver Types, in fact, it was said that no two mobile suits were exactly the same. All aboard a trio of customized Nazca-class vessels. But that's who the men and women of the 11th Fleet were. A group of wildly different soldiers who piloted non-standard, customized machines. And they were the most feared and respected space-based unit in ZAFT.

"Mobile suit pilots, prepare for launch." the Gamow's Combat Operator said over the radio.

He was up first. Saul moved the Surge onto the catapult. He received the green light to take off.

"Saul Kessel. Surge takin' off."

The catapult activated, the g-forces pushing him back into his seat as the Surge was launched into space.

_'Time to try this baby out.'_

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

Chris sat in the cockpit of the Raven, waiting for the order to launch. Lt. La Flaga had taken off a few minutes ago. And soon, he and Kira would be launching.

"Load the Aile Striker onto the Strike." his aunt's voice called over the radio.

_'Hmm...Aile Striker. That's a new one.'_

"Kira, Chris." Miriallia said over the radio as her face appeared on one of screens on the console.

"Miriallia?" he heard Kira say over the radio.

"From now on, I will act as the combat operator for the mobile suits and the mobile armor." Mir said. "I'm counting on you two."

"Don't worry Mir." Chris said. "We're not gonna let anything happen to the ship."

The ship suddenly shuddered slightly as the Lohengrins fired blindly at the Nazca-class ahead of them.

The catapult doors opened up.

"Kira Yamato. Strike Gundam launching." Kira said before he took off.

_'Gundam? Interesting name. Taking the first letters of each word in the name of the OS. Wish I had thought of that.'_

"Chris Dante. Raven Gundam taking off."

The catapult activated, propelling him forward and into space.

"There's five mobile suits incoming." Ensign Badgiruel said over the radio. "One from the front, four from the rear. It's the Aegis, the Blitz, the Surge, the Duel and the Buster."

"Okay Kira, we're outnumbered, so I think we should stay near the Archangel. That way, they can provide us with some support."

"Right." Kira replied.

* * *

The Surge, the Blitz, the Duel and the Buster streaked through space.

"Looks like Athrun's gonna beat us there." Saul said to himself. "Hey Yzak."

"What?"

"Athrun's gonna be by himself for awhile against those two machines, waiting for us to get there. I'm going ahead to help him."

"What? What are you talking about? You can't get there any faster than the rest of us."

Saul smirked. "Do you know why my machine is called the Surge?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?!"

"Let me show you." Saul said before hitting the throttle to max.

The Surge's thrusters kicked in, causing the mobile suit to literally surged through space towards the Archangel while the g-forces were pushing Saul back into his seat.

_'Wow! I knew this thing was fast but...wow!'_

A few minutes later, he arrived just after Athrun arrived. Athrun went after the Strike. The second machine, the Raven, moved to help it's comrade. Saul wasn't about to let Athrun get double-teamed. Saul aimed and fired a trio of warning shots at it. He wasn't about to destroy the Raven when it wasn't even aware of him. That was something cowards and snipers did. Not him.

The Raven stopped, turned to face him and opened fire with it's dual railgun. But Saul, using the Surge's superior speed, dodged with every shot, and returned fire with his beam rifle. Both machines avoided the other's shots as they fired.

_'Hmm...This guy's good. Let's try this.'_

The Surge's left arm shot up and fired it's Hakenfaust piercer claw. The Raven dodged the claw and transformed into it's mobile armor mode and opened fire with it's machine guns as it flew towards him. Saul dove to the left, dodging most of the shots and the few that did hit him, barely scratching the phase-shift armor.

The Raven flew past him. Saul spun the Surge around and fired again as the Raven turned for another pass. Saul fired his rifle at it. The Raven dodged but oddly enough, didn't return fire. It was almost upon him, when it's bird-like feet angled up bit and short energy blades activated in the center of it's feet.

_'Shit!'_ Saul thought as he barely managed to fly up and avoid it.

The Raven flew past him and transformed back into it's mobile suit mode. Then it spun around and fired it's railgun at him again.

_'Why don't we try something a little different.'_ Saul thought as he dodged the shots.

He holstered his rifle and drew his swords and charged as fast as he could get the machine to go. The Raven managed to draw both of it's beam swords and block his attack and pushed him back.

"You're pretty good." Saul said over radio to the Raven's pilot. "I'm a little surprised that a Natural could pilot a mobile suit so well."

"I'm not a Natural." the pilot replied.

From the sound of his voice, the pilot was probably around his age.

"I'm a Coordinator. Same with the pilot of the Strike."

Now this really surprised him. "What?! Why are you two fighting on an Earth Force warship?"

"A rather long story." the pilot answered. "The short answer is that my family and friends, who are civilians, are on board that ship. So I'm simply protecting them."

Saul had to admit, that was a very good reason. Hell, he'd do the same thing in his position.

"Sorry to hear that. It's nothing personal but I got my orders. And I won't insult you by holding back." he said.

"Same here."

At that moment, Yzak, Nicol and Dearka arrived.

"Nicol, go help Saul with that machine. Dearka, you get the ship. I'll help Athrun." Yzak ordered.

The Blitz appeared and fired at the Raven, causing it to back off.

"Saul, you alright?" Nicol asked.

"I'm fine."

_'Sorry buddy, but I got a job to do.'_

* * *

Elsewhere

Unbeknownst to the combatants, a modified CGUE and a pair of modified GINNs armed with sniper rifles, observed the from afar.

"So those are the new mobiles and the legged ship from Heliopolis." Commander Diana Kessel said as she watched fight. "Quite impressive."

"Yeah. Those guys at Orb sure know how to make some sweet looking machines." Ajay Cortez drawled.

"Indeed." Lucius Raveshaw said. "Though I have to wonder if getting these machines was wroth the destruction of Heliopolis."

"Yeah. They should have sent us. Not that masked pansy Creuset and those little boys." Ajay said.

"May I remind you, Ajay, that one of those 'little boys' is my younger brother." Diana said to her subordinate.

"Sorry ma'am. Didn't mean anything by it ma'am." Ajay quickly said to avoid angering his commander.

"Don't worry about it. My younger brother is a lazy, foolish child. But he also happens to be about the only one who can tell what exactly happened to Heliopolis."

"You suspect that Creuset will lie about the events that led to the destruction of Heliopolis then?" Lucius, her right-hand man, asked.

"Through his teeth. Creuset is nothing but a snake." Diana answered. "He'll tell Zala what happened, then Zala will manipulate the facts and make Orb and the Earth Forces look like the villains while Creuset becomes the commander who tried everything to prevent Heliopolis's destruction."

"What'd you expect from a couple of snakes them." Ajay said in disgust. "It's cause of them and that traitor, that the commander's gone."

All three of them were quite for a moment.

"Sir. Should we get involved in this battle?" Lucius asked.

"No. We'll watch and see how things play out."

* * *

Chris dodged the energy blasts from the Surge and the Blitz and returned fire as best he could.

"Strike, Raven, where are you? We need assistance." Ensign Badgiruel said over the radio.

"Little busy right now." Chris replied as he dodged attacks from the Blitz and the Surge while returning fire.

Chris didn't know how much longer they were gonna last. He barely holding against one of the enemy machines. Now was forced to fight two of them at the same time. And these guys weren't like the GINNs from before. The machines were the counterparts to the Strike and his own machine, which meant that these machines were superior to the GINNs.

Both the Blitz and the Surge fired their claw weapons at him. Chris dove to avoid them and fired a few more rounds from his railguns at them. Suddenly, there was a warning beep sounded through the cockpit. It was his ammo indicator. He had only eight rounds left, which meant four shots and he was out.

"Damn. Gonna have to be careful now." he said to himself. "I can only fire when I'm absolutely certain I'll hit something."

The Blitz lunged at him with it's beam sword. Chris parried the blow with his right sword and kicked the Blitz back. The Surge took this moment to attack with it's solid swords. Chris managed to move out of the way. At that moment, a text message appeared on the Raven's console.

_Preparing to fire Lohengrins. Watch out._

Chris took a quick look around. Kira was fighting the Aegis and the Duel. Both he and Kira were out of the danger zone.

A few moments later, the Lohengrin cannons emerged and fired. The two massive streaks of energy raced towards the location of the Nazca-class.

_'Looks like Lt. La Flaga succeeded.'_

Which meant that the Nazca-class had taken serious damage and would likely fall back and recall the mobile suits.

Suddenly, a pair of stray shots from the Strike flew past him.

"Hey Kira, watch where you're firing. You're gonna either hit me or drain your battery."

"Sorry." Kira said he aimed at the Duel and fired.

Only to have nothing come out of the rifle. A moment later, the Strike's phase-shift armor deactivated.

"No! I'm out of power!" Kira shouted.

At that moment, the Duel raised it's rifle and aimed at the Strike.

"Hold on Kira!" Chris shouted as he transformed the Raven into it's mobile armor form raced towards the powerless Strike.

At the same time, the Aegis also transformed and sped towards the Strike. It became a race to see who would get there first, the Raven, the Aegis, or the Duel's beams.

The Duel fired as the Aegis and the Raven neared the Strike.

The Raven was the winner. It's talons grabbed onto the shoulders of the Strike and pulled it out of the path of the beam. Chris turned the Raven towards the Archangel. The Blitz and the Surge fired at them, but he dodged their shots, barely. The Aegis however, was still hot on their trail. But thankfully, it wasn't firing at them as well.

_'Why is that? One good shot and we're dead. So why isn't he firing?'_

"Archangel. The Strike's out of power and I don't have much power left either. Launch one of the Striker Packs or we're gonna be screwed."

* * *

Athrun Zala stared at the Strike and the Raven, unsure of what to do. The soldier in him, was saying fire at the Raven. But if he did that, the Strike would be caught in the explosion. But without it's phase-shift armor, the Strike would likely be heavily damaged, if it survived at all. If he fired at the Raven, Kira would likely...

"Athrun! What are you waiting for?! Shoot them down!" Yzak shouted.

Athrun couldn't fire. Not at Kira anyway.

"Dammit! I'll do it myself!" Yzak shouted as he aimed his rifle, preparing to fire it's grenade at the two mobile suits.

_'No! Kira...'_

Yzak was about to fire when suddenly, there was a loud "YEEHAW!!" followed by a barrage of beams that flew at the Duel.

Most missed, but a few hit their mark, stunning Yzak. Everyone looked up. It was a Moebius Zero.

* * *

Chris heard a warning alarm go off in his cockpit. Someone had a target lock on him.

_'Dammit, dammit, dammit...'_

Suddenly there was a loud "YEEHAW!!"

It was Lt. La Flaga. Chris breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get the Strike lined up with the the Archangel so they can launch the Launcher Striker. I'll cover you." La Flaga said.

"Right. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now get going."

Chris didn't need to be told twice. He pushed the Raven's engines to the max draining most of the remaining battery power. One of the Archangel's catapults opened up. Chris turned the Raven and lined up both machines with the catapult.

"End of the line, Kira." Chris said as he released the Raven's grip on the Strike and flew away from the Strike.

"Thanks Chris." Kira replied as he released the Aile Striker from the back of the Strike.

The Launcher Striker launched from the Archangel towards the Strike. Kira quickly attached the Launcher Striker, reactivated the phase-shift and started firing at the enemy mobile suits.

* * *

Saul watched as the recharged Strike fired at them. Everyone managed to dodge the shots, save for Yzak, who lost the right arm of his machine in last blast.

"Dammit!" Yzak cursed.

"Yzak. We need to retreat." Athrun said.

"WHAT?!" Yzak shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The Vesalius has been damaged. And we're starting to run low on power."

"I agree with Athrun." Nicol said. "If we don't fall back soon, it will be our turn to run out of power."

"Yeah." Saul said as he glanced at his. "I'm running on fumes as it is. We should fall back."

* * *

Chris breathed another sigh of relief as he watched the five enemy mobile suits retreat. They had won. Chris found himself wondering how much longer these guys were gonna be chasing them.

Something told him that they weren't going away any time soon.

* * *

"Wow. Even with a five to two mobile suit advantage, they still couldn't even destroy one mobile suit." Ajay said. "That's sad. Real sad."

"Perhaps that's a testament of the skill of the pilots of two mobile suits and the crew of the ship." Lucius said.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it was just luck." Diana said. "We're returning to the Odin."

"Yes ma'am."

"Yeah boss."

Please review.


	6. Phase Five: Vanishing Gundam

Yo everybody! Sorry of taking so very long with my updates. But I found myself drawn to my other stories. Fortunately, I'm back.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.

**Phase Five: Vanishing Gundam**

January 25 C.E. 71

Aboard the Gamow

"Dammit!" Yzak shouted. "There was five of us and only two of them! And we still lost!"

Saul shook his head and turned away as Yzak continued to rant and rave about their defeat. Yzak really needed to learn some anger management.

Yzak grabbed Athrun and slammed him into the lockers on the wall. "And what the hell was that stunt?! You had a clear shot! You could have destroyed them both! Why didn't you?!"

Saul had to admit. That puzzled him as well. Athrun had a fairly large window of opportunity to fire upon and destroy both machines in a single blow. Yet, he didn't.

"That's enough Yzak!" Nicol shouted. "The enemy's out there! Not in here!"

Yzak let go of Athrun but he was still pretty pissed off. "It's because of this coward that we lost to two _Naturals_!"

Saul sighed. "Again Yzak, you're underestimating Naturals. But that doesn't matter at the moment." he turned to face his teammates. "Those pilots weren't Naturals. They were Coordinators."

Nicol, Dearka and Yzak gave looks of surprise and disbelief while Athrun looked away.

"What? No way." Yzak said.

"How can you be so sure?" Nicol asked.

"Simple. The pilot of the Raven told me himself." Saul replied. "And frankly, I can't see any reason to lie about that."

Yzak, if it was even possible, grew angrier. "So it's a pair of traitors piloting those things. Than we'll just have to destroy them."

"Isn't that our orders to begin with?" Saul said, earning an annoyed growl from Yzak.

None of them noticed Athrun's depressed expression. Or were even remotely aware of his secret.

* * *

Aboard the Bridge of the Odin

"Bring us towards the Gamow and Vesalius. Hail the Vesalius when we're in range." Diana Kessel ordered as she, Lucius, and Ajay stepped onto the bridge of the Odin.

"Aye sir." Captain Lee said as crew of the Odin followed her orders.

She sat down on her chair as the Odin, it's sister ships, the Einherjar and the Valkyrie, took off towards the two ZAFT warships. A few minutes later, the bridge of the Vesalius appeared on the main screen.

"Ah...Commander Kessel." the masked snake of a man said. "To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from the 11th Fleet?"

"Someone has to keep an objective record of your colossal failure and incompetence. The failure to destroy a new warship in drydock, involvement in the destruction of neutral, civilian colony, the failure to capture not one, but two prototype mobile suits, repeated failures to capture or destroy said machines and warship and of course, the latest failure. Despite the fact that you had two warships and five mobile suits, you still lost to a single warship, two mobile suits and a lone mobile armor." Diana bluntly said. "Frankly, I don't see how you can escape punishment for all of this. Even with Patrick Zala helping you out."

"We shall see." Le Creuset smugly replied. "Speaking of the council, they've recalled the Vesalius back. I was going to order the Gamow to continue following the legged ship. If you wish, you can take command of the Gamow and try your luck at catching the legged ship."

She knew what Creuset was attempting to accomplish. He wanted her to try and fail like he had. So he could discredit her and the men and women under her command. Of course, it was also a tremendous gamble as well. If she succeed, it would only further show his incompetence. "I'll play your game, Creuset. But first, I require a copy of all of the data of the captured machines and any data on the legged ship and it's mobile suits."

"Of course. I'll have a copy transferred to you momentarily. Good luck, Commander Kessel. You're going to need it with the legged ship now inside Artemis."

"I don't need luck Creuset."

"Oh by the way, Mu La Flaga is on board the legged ship." Creuset said with a smirk. "I thought you would want to know."

Most of the Odin's bridge crew glanced at her. They all knew of her desire to defeat the Hawk of Endymion after he had humiliated her at Endymion. She had been the fifth mobile suit at Endymion that Mu La Flaga had shot down. Though she survived, she had forgotten the humiliation of being shot down by a lone mobile armor.

"I was already aware Creuset. There's only one Moebius Zero pilot left, La Flaga." she said coldly as she stood up. "I will shatter the Umbrella of Artemis and capture the legged ship and it's mobile suits."

* * *

Artemis Base

"Well, it seems that you are indeed Lieutenants Murrue Ramius, Mu La Flaga and Ensign Natarle Badgiruel." the portly commander said, turning from his computer to face the three EA officers. "I am Gerard Garcia, Commander of Artemis Base."

Murrue was about to speak when Garcia interrupted, "Sorry about that. But we couldn't be too careful now. After all, you were an unidentified ship being followed by two ZAFT warships. But now since that has been cleared up. I welcome you to Artemis Base for however long you wish to stay."

Murrue didn't like this man. His voice and demeanor was like a bureaucrat's. He didn't give a damn about anyone on board the Archangel. All this man cared about was getting his hands on the Archangel and the mobile suits and the reward he would get for giving them to his superior. "Thank you Commander." Murrue politely said. "But all we need is supplies and we'll be on our way."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question. Although the damaged Nazca-class has withdrawn, the Laurasia-class is still out, on the edge of our sensors. And it's not alone." Garcia said as he typed a command into the computer.

The large screen behind Garcia's desk showed the Laurasia-class and three very distinct Nazca-class warships. Their hulls were dark gray with red streaks running along the underbellies and tops of the warships. On the sides of the warships were a number of red skulls. One for each victory. On the doors of the mobile suit catapult was a black hawk. There were also a number of images painted on the hulls. Skulls, flames, sword, just to name a few. The paint job was solely a means of intimidation. And Murrue had to admit, it was certainly effective.

Everyone there knew what those warships were. ZAFT's dreaded 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. The best space-based combat unit fighting in the war. Feared and respected by both sides, 11th Fleet had been present in just about every major space battle of the war. And more often than not, they had been the cause of many of the Earth Forces' defeats in those battles. Originally led by the brilliant John Alaric, the 11th Fleet was known for their extensive use of high-speed and guerrilla tactics. And had on numerous occasions, devastated EA battle groups many times their size. Worse yet, after the assassination of Alaric, the 11th Fleet had become more driven, focused and deadly. As though they sought to prove to everyone that even with the loss of their commander, they were still just as effective and terrifying.

"Damn." Mu cursed. "I hoped I'd never see those ships again after Endymion."

"As you can see, you've attracted a lot of attention. Why would you want to go out with the 11th Fleet chasing after you?" Garcia asked as a smirk formed on his lips. "Here you're all safe. They can't get close to us without us detecting them and activating the Umbrella. And nothing can get through the barrier. They'll eventually get tried of waiting and leave. It happens all the time."

"You've clearly never seen the 11th Fleet in combat." Mu said. "Their reputation is well deserved."

"I have Lt. La Flaga. I was at Endymion. I know just how vicious they are." Garcia replied. "But not even they can penetrate this base."

"Don't underestimate the 11th Fleet." Mu said. "A lot of better Commanders have and died because of it."

"In any case, I suggest that you get some R and R." Garcia said, completely ignoring Mu. "You appear to be exhausted. I'll have some rooms prepared for you."

Garcia pushed the call button on his desk. A pair of guards entered the room. Garcia hadn't said it. But they all knew. The entire crew of the Archangel and their passengers were prisoners. Prisoners of their own allies.

* * *

Aboard the Gamow

Thirty Minutes Later

Saul sighed as he made his way down the corridors of the Gamow. With Creuset, Athrun and the Vesalius gone, the Gamow was now for the time being under the command of his sister. He could already feel her whips at his back.

"Hey Saul." Dearka called from behind.

Saul turned to his teammate. "Yeah? What?"

"I'm curious about your sister and 11th Fleet. We're gonna be working with them so I figured I should ask you."

"Well, I don't know much about the 11th Fleet beyond what everybody else knows. But my sister, that's a whole other story. Let me give you the only advice you'll need for dealing with her. Don't lie to her, don't argue with her and do what ever she tells you to do. And you'll avoid castration."

Dearka stared at him in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

Saul stared back him with a dead serious expression. "Nope."

"Oh man. She sounds crazy."

"Not really. But she'll kick your ass if you piss her off." he replied. "In fact, she broke a some idiot's arms after he almost got her squad killed during a training exercise."

"Damn. That's one woman I wouldn't wanna piss off." Dearka said.

Saul nodded. "Tell me about it."

"How are you even related to someone like that?"

"Actually, I'm the black sheep of the family. My parents are more like her than me." Saul sighed and added, "Well, we got a couple of hours until the briefing, so I'm gonna take a nap. See ya later."

"See you then."

A few minutes later, Saul entered his quarters and crashed on his bed. He glanced at the bed opposite his. Rusty's bed.

Saul sighed. It was hard to believe that his friend was dead. He found it strange. Just this morning, he had talked, joked and laughed with him, Miguel and the others. And now they were dead. Gone forever. He remembered Matthew talking about how when the war was over, he was going to propose to his girlfriend. He remembered Miguel's reason for becoming a soldier in the first place, to earn money for his sick younger brother. Now who would help his brother? Who ever said 'war is hell' was right.

_BEEP...BEEP...BEEP..._

Saul groaned. Someone was calling him. He got up and moved to the terminal built into his desk. He pushed the call button. "Yes?"

"A private message from the Odin for you." the Comm officer said.

Saul sighed. It was his sister. "Patch it through."

The screen changed to the face of his sister. "Is this channel secure?" she asked.

"Give me a moment." Saul replied as he typed in a series of commands on the terminal. "Oh. And it's nice to see you too, sister."

Saul had hacked the Gamow's systems within a few hours of coming on board. It had been painfully easy to hack. And so were most normal military computers for that matter. But that was a whole other story.

"Okay. It's secure." Saul said. "What do you want?"

"Any and all unedited records from all operations during the incident at Heliopolis and all the data on the Earth Forces mobile suits and the legged ship. I don't trust the data he gave us." his sister said in her usual cold and blunt tone.

"Is that all? I thought this was going to be something hard." Saul said as he started typing.

A moment later, he transferred a copy of all the data on the mobile suits and legged ship to the Odin. "There's the mobile suit data." he said as he started searching for the rest of the data she wanted. "And here comes the...What?!"

"What is it?"

Saul stared in disbelief at the screen. "All the data on Heliopolis and it's destruction is gone..." he said as searched for some trace of the data. "There's no trace of it. All the data is completely gone."

"Creuset, that sneaky bastard." Diana cursed. "He must have removed all traces of what really happened just in case I'd try something like this. And I almost had him too."

"You really hate Creuset." Saul commented.

"Our parents worry a lot about Patrick Zala." Diana said. "And while Zala is dangerous, he is little more than a mad dog. Wild, angry, predictable. The truly dangerous one is Creuset. The man is a viper hiding in the bushes, waiting to strike upon the unsuspecting victim. A man like that is the one to truly fear."

* * *

January 26 C.E. 71

Aboard the Gamow

The top officers of the 11th, the captain of the Gamow and the remaining members of the Creuset Team were gathered around the display table in the back of the bridge. The screen of the table displayed a read out of the Artemis Base and it's Umbrella shield.

There were five officers of the 11th Fleet. It's commander and her four top officers. First was Lucius Raveshaw, the second-in-command of the 11th Fleet. A dark-skinned man of average size and height, clad in a ZAFT red coat uniform. His white hair was cut in a standard military style. His red eyes always seemed like they were studying and analyzing everyone and everything around him.

Standing next to him, was whom many considered to be the polar opposite of Lucius, was Ajay Cortez. Also clad in a red uniform and a toothpick in his mouth, Ajay was a bit thinner and taller than Lucius. Ajay's demeanor and stance were quite different from his comrade. Where Lucius was standing straight and at attention, like a proper soldier, Ajay was relaxed and laid-backed. His long, dirty blond hair was tied into a loose ponytail.

The next officer was a giant of a man, clad in a white uniform. Basque Gideon, Commander of the Einherjar and it's mobile suits. Basque's head was almost entirely shaved bald, expect for a long black braided ponytail and a matching beard and mustache.

The fourth officer was a woman, wearing a white uniform with male pants instead of the female skirt. Lisa DeCosta, Commander of the Valkyrie and it's mobile suits. She had short brown hair and green eyes.

The finally there was the Ice Queen of the 11th Fleet herself, Diana Kessel. Clad in a white uniform with male pants. Her eyes were an icy blue, much like her icy demeanor. She had short, straight black hair.

"The Umbrella of Artemis is a lightwave barrier that blocks any and all incoming attacks. But it also blocks their attacks as well." Lucius Raveshaw said.

"So basically, we can't do anything and they can't do anything." Dearka said. "What a useless weapon."

"Perhaps. But as a purely defensive weapon, it's formidable." Lucius said. "Added to this, is the strategic unimportance of the Artemis Base. Because of it's unimportance, no one has come up with a means to break the shield. However, this works to our advantage as well."

"What? How does that help us?" Yzak asked.

"Simple." Ajay smugly said. "All the guys inside Artemis have grown fat, lazy and complacent. They think that nothing can break through their precocious Umbrella. Which means when we do break it, they'll run around in shock like a chicken with it's head cut off."

"Correct." Lucius said.

"Let's just smash this 'Umbrella of Artemis' already." Basque said.

"Easier said than done." Lucius said. "I doubt anything short of a nuclear explosion could damage the barrier."

"Okay. So what's the plan? Wait for them to come out?" Dearka said with a chuckle.

"Quit joking around Dearka." an annoyed Yzak said. "What will the commander say when he gets back, and we haven't finished this off? Do you want to be the one to tell him that we did nothing?"

"Enough." Commander Kessel said. "The Umbrella of Artemis will fall today."

"And just how are we gonna do that?" Dearka asked. "As long as the shield is up, we can't attack."

"And the only time they turn the Umbrella off is when we're out of their sensor range." Saul added. "But the second we get close to them, they'll raise it back up again."

"There is a way to break that shield and shatter Artemis." Diana said. "The Blitz."

* * *

The Archangel

Inside the Artemis Base

Chris was getting annoyed at this whole situation. As soon as they docked in Artemis, the ship had been boarded and they had been arrested. Of course, the soldiers hadn't said they were under arrest. But it was a joke. No doubt, the commander of this base wanted to present this ship and the mobile suits on board to the Eurasian government. And probably get promoted for it.

Now all the civilians and the entire crew, minus Lieutenant Ramius, Mu, and Ensign Badgiruel, were crammed into the mess hall of the ship with armed soldiers standing guard, waiting. And they had been waiting for a number of hours already.

The mess hall doors opened and a fat toad of a man in an officer's uniform, accompanied by a group of armed soldiers.

"I am Commander Gerard Garcia." the officer said. "Who are the pilots of the mobile suits in the hanger?"

"What? You mean the captain didn't tell you?" one of the bridge officers said, Chris didn't know his name. "Or do you just not have the clearance to know?"

One of the soldiers punched the man. "Who are the pilots?" Garcia said in a more forceful tone.

Chris glanced at Kira, who was sitting next to him. Kira looked ready to stand up and admit to being one of the pilots. Lucky, Murdoch was pushing down on his shoulders, keeping him in place. Kira was being an idiot. Couldn't he see that the crew were trying to protect them?

"Isn't it obvious?" another officer said. "It was Lieutenant La Flaga and Ensign Badgiruel."

Garcia smirked. "I don't think so. We were watching the battle. There was a Moebius Zero and La Flaga is the only Zero pilot left. And Badgiruel is a bridge officer, not a pilot. So, who are the pilots?"

No one said anything. Garcia scanned the room, trying to figure out who the pilots were. "Hmm...I wonder." Garcia said as he started walking towards where they were sitting. "The captain of this ship is a woman. So perhaps the pilots are women."

Garcia stopped were he, Kira and the others were sitting. "And perhaps, they're disguised as civilians so we won't suspect them of being the pilots." he said before he grabbed Flay's arm and pulled her out of her seat.

"Hey! Let me go!" Flay shouted.

Sai shot up out of his seat. "Leave her alone!" he shouted.

Garcia backhanded Sai, sending him crashing into the table. Before anyone could react, Kira broke free of Murdoch's grasp and shouted, "Let her go! I'm the one you want!"

Garcia tossed Flay into the arms of a guard. "You expect me to believe that a mere child was piloting one of those mobile suits. Who are the real pilots, brat?!"

Garcia then punched Kira in the face. Or would have if Kira wasn't a Coordinator. Kira sidestepped the blow, grabbed Garcia's wrist and threw the fat commander to the ground. One of the soldiers grabbed Kira, restraining him.

"See!" a panicking Flay said. "He is the pilot! He's a Coordinator!"

Garcia's eyes lit up as he got up. "Then that changes everything." he said, eying Kira. "Who is the other pilot?"

Kira didn't say anything.

"Very well then. Take the two of the them to interrogation. I want the name of that other pilot."

Flay's eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to say something. But before she could, Chris stood up. "I'm the other one you want. I'm the other pilot. You can leave her alone now."

Garcia smiled. "You're a Coordinator as well?"

"Would take my word on it or would prefer to prove it by kicking your ass like Kira just did."

A guard standing next to him, punched him in the side of the head. Chris stumbled from impact of the blow but managed to stay standing. He quickly turned to the soldier, slipping into a martial arts stance, he kicked the guard the stomach. Sending him crashing onto the table behind him. Chris then heard the sound of several guns cocking.

_'Yeah...I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead.'_

Chris sighed as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Now that was too hard." Garcia said as he signaled several of the guards. "Take them to the hanger at once. Bring the girl as well."

* * *

Outside Artemis

The Odin, the Einherjar, the Valkyrie, and the Gamow all began to turn around, preparing to leave the area. As they did, the Gamow's hanger opened up and the Blitz launched. A moment later, it disappeared from view and from sensors.

* * *

"Mirage Colloid. It seems fitting for Nicol. A weapon fit for a coward." Dearka commented as they waited for their moment to launch.

"Nicol's not a coward." Saul said, defending his friend. "He's the bravest of us all. He chose to go to war when he could have just as easily didn't have to. The three of us joined ZAFT for our own reasons. But Nicol simple wants to protect the PLANTs. Frankly, I don't think that I could ever do what he does."

"Oh? Why did you join ZAFT then?" Dearka asked.

"To get my parents and my sister off my back." Saul replied. "I was fated to join ZAFT the moment I was born. So I'm just going with the flow."

* * *

The four ZAFT warship then left the sensor range of the Artemis Base and waited for the Blitz to finish it's mission.

A few minutes later, the officers of Artemis deactivated the barrier. Unaware of the invisible mobile suit approaching.

"So you want us to remove the locks on OSs, right?" Kira asked.

"For starters. But I imagine that the two of you could do a lot more than just that." Garcia said. "For example, you could analyze the designs of these machines and build another or even a weapon that's effective against these kinds of mobile suits."

"Well first off, we're students from Orb. Not soldiers. Not some high-paid military contractors." Chris said. "So why would we even do such a thing?"

"Ah...But the two of you are already traitors to your fellow Coordinators." Garcia smugly said.

"Traitors..." Kira said, stunned by Garcia's words.

"I have no idea what your reasons were. Nor do I care. But regardless, you two did betray your own people."

"That's a lie." Chris said. "Don't listen to this idiot, Kira. We're not traitors to anyone."

"Then why were the two of you fighting for the Earth Alliance against ZAFT soldiers?" Garcia asked, still in his smug attitude.

"I'm not a part of ZAFT or the PLANTs. Not anymore. Nor am I apart of the Earth Forces." Chris said defiantly And my 'people' are those aboard the Archangel. Not those in the PLANTs."

"Very well then." Garcia said, turning to one of his men. "Throw the girl out an airlock."

Kira's, Chris's and Flay's eyes all widened in horror. "Unless of course, you wish to remove the locks."

The two grimly nodded. They had no choice. Garcia had the everyone on board the Archangel as his hostages. Kira and Chris followed his orders and entered the cockpits of their machines and started typing.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, like an explosion, and a tremor shook the base. Followed by more tremors and noises. Anyone with half a brain could tell what was happening. The base was under attack. Someone had gotten through the Umbrella of Artemis.

Kira and Chris, using the confusion, both pushed the technicians gathered around the cockpits of their mobile suits out of the way and got into the cockpits. The two machines came to life, braking the clamps that were holding them in place.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Garcia shouted.

"We're under attack." Kira said. "What do you think we're doing?"

The Raven knelt down in front of Flay, Garcia and some of his men and extended one of it's hands. Chris wasn't about to leave Flay with that man. "Flay, hop on."

Before anyone could stop her, Flay climbed on the hand and the Raven stood back up. Chris brought the Raven's hand to the cockpit door and opened the door allowing Flay to get in.

"Thank you." Flay said as she squeezed into the space between the seat and wall.

"Don't mention it." Chris replied. "Oh, and don't touch anything."

Chris opened up the comm to the Strike. "Kira, let's get out of here and see what we can do."

"Right." Kira as he loaded the Sword Striker onto the Strike.

"You know, you really shouldn't have said that." he said to Flay.

"What?"

"What you said in the mess hall. You shouldn't have told them that Kira was a Coordinator."

"But it was the truth. And besides, they're our allies." Flay said weakly, in her defense.

"Allies? Perhaps Eurasia is an ally. But that commander doesn't give a damn about us. All he cares about is the promotion he'll get for handing over the Archangel and these mobile suits to his superiors. Hell, he was about to throw you out an airlock if we didn't do what he wanted." Chris said. "The world isn't black and white, Flay. So don't think of everything as that."

Flay didn't say anything as the Raven and the Strike exited the Archangel and into growing chaos of the Artemis Base port.

* * *

The Odin, the Einherjar, the Valkyrie, and the Gamow were closing in on Artemis. With it's shield disabled, they had an opening. And now it was time to finish it off.

The Duel, the Buster, the Surge and the custom mobile suits of the 11th Fleet were all quickly launched from the warships.

"Listen up men." Diana Kessel said over the comm. "Team 3, will enter the hanger first. Focus your fire on the docked ships and the base itself. Team 1 will follow Team 3 and attack the legged ship while Team 2 will remain behind in reserve to catch escaping ships. I want the legged ship's engines and weapons disabled. As well as the two mobile suits disabled and captured. If that is not possible, then destroy them. But leave the Moebius Zero to me. Understand?"

Only her brother and the rest of the Creuset Team responded. The men and women under her command were well trained and didn't need to respond. They would follow out her orders to the letter.

"Good. Let us end both Artemis and the legged ship here and now." she said. "For the Black Hawk!"

"For the Black Hawk!" the pilots of the 11th Fleet shouted back before the mobile suits rocketed off towards the Artemis Base and their prey.

Mobile armors scrambled out of the large main hanger, in an attempt to engage them. But they were no match for the aces of the 11th. A hail of bullets and beams tore through mobile armors. Gideon's GINN and the rest of the GINNs of the Einherjar raced ahead of the others. The Team 3 were all heavy weapons experts and were armed accordingly. Several heavy cannons and missiles were fired off, destroying and several warships.

Basque roared as his GINN, Bruticus, charged forward, firing off his heavy cannon and Gatling guns while the rest of his team followed behind. Many of the docked vessels in the front of the hanger were quickly crippled or destroyed.

"Team 1, move out." Diana ordered.

The mobile suits of the Odin and the Creuset team raced in the massive hanger. They split up, searching for the legged ship and firing upon the mobile armors that were vainly trying to defend their base. They were all minor annoyances that were trying to stop them from reaching their objective. Diana fired off a few rounds at one mobile armor, clipping it's engines and causing it to crash into the command center of the base. No doubt, taking the base commander with it.

She quickly and easily destroyed three more mobile armors. That was a problem that irritated her. It was too easy. True, the Earth Forces had numbers. But their mobile armors were vastly inferior compared to ZAFT's mobile suits. Truth be told, Diana was growing bored of the war. ZAFT's technology was just too superior. And without challenging opponents, how could she and her men improve if their opponents were all weak. When she learned that the Earth Forces were building mobile suits, she was actually quite happy. It would finally bring a balance to this war and actually challenge her.

It wasn't long before she, her brother, and his two teammates spotted the legged ship and it's mobile suits. The Blitz was also there, battling the Strike and the Raven. However, much to Diana's annoyance, there was no Moebius Zero. No Mu La Flaga.

"Time to end this." Yzak said he opened fire on the Strike.

Diana, Saul and Dearka all followed the Duel, firing on the two Earth Force's mobile suits. The Raven and the Strike dodged their shots and the Raven returned fire with it's railguns at the Buster and Duel while the Strike threw it's beam boomerang at the Panther. Diana effortlessly dodged the incoming weapon and it's rebound, only to come face to face with the Strike with it's sword descending on her. But she wasn't some novice pilot, she was the command of the best space-combat unit in all of ZAFT. She barely managed sidestepped the attack. Losing her machine's left arm in the process.

"Leave her alone!" Saul shouted, firing his Hakenfaust claw at the Strike.

The Strike pulled back, avoiding the claw weapon. Diana took that momentary distraction to fire off a burst of rounds at the Strike. But her bullets did nothing against the phase-shift armor of the machine.

_'Amazing. These mobile suits make even our machines inferior.'_

"You alright, sis?" Saul asked.

Diana was about to respond, when she noticed the legged ship was turning around. It was heading towards the open rear hanger door. "I'm fine. Stop the legged ship!"

Huge explosions started tearing through the hanger. The Raven and the Strike were falling to the legged ship.

"You're not getting away this time!" Yzak shouted, firing at the retreating mobile suits.

Unfortunately, at that very moment, a massive explosion tore through the hanger. Creating a fireball that separated them from the fleeing ship.

_'It seems Basque and his men were quicker that I thought they'd be.'_ Diana thought as the legged ship slipped from their grasp.

"No!!" Yzak shouted in rage and frustration.

"The base is coming apart." Diana said. "All forces, fall back. Fall back."

All of the ZAFT forces started fleeing the crumbling base. They had destroyed the Artemis Base, but failed in their ultimate objective. The capture or destruction of the legged ship and it's mobile suits. But as long as that ship was in space, she and 11th Fleet would hunt them. Nothing ever escaped their grasp for very long.

* * *

That's all for now. I'm gonna update the mobile suit page and post the next chapter by about Friday or Saturday, unless things get really crazy for me. Until then. Review.


	7. Phase Six: Respective Solitudes

Yo! I'm a little late because of school and work. But this chapter's done now.

One thing, I have a bunch of ideas for this story and it's Destiny sequel. But I'm not quite sure about them. I'd really appreciate it if someone willing to hear them out and give me some feedback. It would mean that the person who helps me out will receive some major spoilers. But I'd be willing to hear out an suggestions or OCs you have.

And the mobile suit page has been updated with new MS.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs

**Phase Six: Respective Solitudes**

Archangel Hanger

January 26 C.E. 71

Chris breathed a sigh of relief as he shut down the Raven. Fighting in that enclosed space had been difficult to say the least. Not to mention that the whole base was falling apart all around them. It was a miracle that they had managed to escape at all.

He glanced at Flay. The girl was quite pale and seemed to be in a daze. He didn't blame her. He had been pretty much the same after his first battle. He remembered that feeling of scared, yet exhilarated after his first battle. But that fear he had felt his first time was gone. Which left him with a lingering thought.

_'Have I truly gotten that use to battle already?'_

"Are you alright Flay?" he asked.

Flay blinked a few times. "Huh? Oh sorry. I'll be fine." she said, a slight tremor in voice.

"That's good. Sai would probably try to kill me if something happened to you."

"Is that what a battle is like?" Flay suddenly asked, in a quiet voice.

Chris paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. "From what I've experienced, yes."

"How can you just go into battle like that? How can anyone go into battle?"

"I don't know. I'm not fighting battles. I'm just trying to protect the few important people I have left." Chris replied. "That's I've ever been doing since I first used the Raven."

"Few important people you have left?"

Chris closed his eyes for a moment. "That's something I do not wish to talk about. So please, respect my privacy."

Chris opened up the cockpit and stepped out as Kira did the same.

"Hey kids!" Mu shouted from hanger floor. "That was some impressive fighting back there!"

Chris smiled. "Thanks!" he shouted back.

At that moment, Flay stepped out of the cockpit.

"Miss Alster?!" a very surprised Mu shouted. "What are you doing in the cockpit?!"

"It's a long story!" Chris shouted back.

He turned to Flay. "Do you need a hand getting down?"

"Ah...Sure."

Chris wrapped an arm around Flay and then pushed off the edge of the cockpit hatch, sending them floating down to the hanger floor. When reached the floor, he let go of Flay. "There you good. You better go find Sai, I imagine he's very worried about you right now."

"Thank you." Flay said before leaving the hanger.

"So, is she your girlfriend?" Mu asked.

"What?!" he shouted, slightly blushing, he hoped from embarrassment. "No. Flay isn't my girlfriend. She's arranged to marry Sai. And I'm not kinda person that breaks a couple up like that for his own selfish reasons."

"Well anyway, I'm impressed that you managed to hold your own against members of ZAFT's 11th Fleet." Mu said.

"The 11th Fleet...I've never heard of them." Kira said.

"Nor have I." Chris said.

C'mon. Seriously?" Mu said, surprised by their reaction. "The 11th Fleet are those elite aces that ZAFT propaganda is always talking about and showing off. And for good reason too. They're the most dominate force in space and they've been a real nightmare for us."

"Really?" Kira asked. "Are they that strong?"

"Yeah. They've beaten the Earth Forces numerous time before. I've fought them several times before and I've only managed to shoot down one of them. Though I did dueled their original commander to a draw once."

_

* * *

_

Flashback

_Battle of Endymion Crater_

_May 28 C.E. 70_

_Mu cursed as he pulled his Moebius Zero into a sharp left turn, dodging a burst of rounds from a black and white GINN._

"_Of all the pilots I could have encountered, I end up coming face to face with the Black Hawk." he said, dodging more rounds._

_Mu knew he was in serious trouble. He had managed to shoot down five GINNs earlier in the battle. One of them being a dark purple GINN of the 11th Fleet, but that GINN taken out two of his gunbarrels. And he was running low on ammo. And worse of all, he knew that his Zero was slower than the GINN. The Hawk was playing with him. He could catch up with him in an instant and finish him off. There was no way Mu could outrun him._

_'Wait. Maybe I don't need to outrun him.' he thought. 'This is crazy. But it might just work.'_

_Mu suddenly cut his speed, stopping dead. His sudden stop caught the Black Hawk offguard, causing him to veer up and over him rather than stopping. Leaving him in the middle of Mu's sights. Mu deployed his gunbarrels and fired. He fired off a few rounds before an alarm sounded in his cockpit. He was out of ammo and the GINN had barely managed to evade the few he did fire._

_The GINN spun around and squeezed the trigger of it's rifle. But nothing happened. The GINN stood there for a moment. They were both out of ammo. But Mu knew he was still in danger. Zero was defenseless while the GINN still had it's sword._

_Suddenly, to Mu's surprise, the GINN's left arm reached up and saluted him. Before the GINN took off. Leaving him surprised and relieved._

* * *

"I don't know. That sounds more like he chose to withdraw and spare you're life rather than the two of you fighting to a draw." Chris said.

"I have to agree with him, Lieutenant La Flaga."

"Hey."

* * *

Shuttle to Aprilius One

January 28 C.E. 71

The door to the shuttle passenger compartment opened. Revealing only two people. Athrun's father, Patrick Zala, and a young man that Athrun had never seen before.

Both Athrun and Commander Creuset saluted as they entered the compartment.

"National Defense Chairman Zala, we hope you will permit us to accompany you."

The young man returned the salute while Patrick simply waved them off. "No need for formalities."

Athrun glanced at the young man sitting behind his father. He looked around Athrun's age and was clad in the red coat of a ZAFT ace. He had gray eyes and his black hair was cut in a standard military style. He looked rather bored.

"Ah Zane, I trust your assignment was a success." Rau said as he took his seat.

"Yes sir. Everything has been taken care of." Zane replied.

"Excellent." Rau said with a grin. "Athrun, I don't believe you've met my protege yet. Athrun Zala, this is Zane Scirocco. He'll be joining us once the Vesalius is repaired and the matter of Heliopolis's destruction is cleared up with the Council."

"Hello." the two politely said to each other as they shook hands.

"You never saw me on this shuttle. Am I clear Athrun?"

"Yes. I understand. It's been awhile, Father." he answered, taking his seat behind Commander Creuset.

"Needless to say, I agree with your opinion report. The problem is the fact that they've developed such advanced mobile suits. We'll forget all about the pilots. I went ahead and deleted that from the report."

Athrun stared at his father in surprise. Concealing more important from the Council like that, had to be illegal.

To Athrun's further surprise, Creuset said, "Thank you very much sir. I was confident that you would make that decision."

"Just think of the reaction if we told them that those machines were being piloted by Coordinators. It would only give the moderate faction something unnecessary to argue about."

"Wouldn't you also find it difficult to have your friend be referred to as someone who has sided to the Earth Forces, due to the report?" Commander Creuset asked.

"No, but..."

"The Naturals created a mobile suit that can perform that well even with a Natural piloting it." his father said. "So that's what we're reporting. Understand?"

"Yes..."

"We must be more serious about this. Rau, I should be able to get you command of the task force that will be hunting the legged ship. It will consist of the Vesalius, the Gamow and the 11th Fleet." Athrun's father said.

Creuset smirked. "Commander Kessel won't like that."

"No. She won't." Patrick replied. "But she will just have to deal with."

"It doesn't matter in the end. We will deal with the ship and those mobile suits." Zane said. "All traitors deserve only one thing. Death."

* * *

PLANT Supreme Council

Aprilius One

Thirty Minutes Later

"I believe you can understand from the course of events you just saw that our actions were not intended as an attack on Heliopolis itself but the result of collateral damage and that the Earth Forces were at fault for the collapse. That concludes my report. Thank you for your attention." Rau said, saluting the Supreme Council before taking his seat again.

"So Orb was working with the Earth Forces all along." Council Member Orson White said. "They're the ones who violated the treaty."

"Aren't you being a little premature." Ian Kessel said. "Orb is more than able to design and build mobile suits and warships."

"But not to design and build mobile suits with the Earth Forces." Ezalia Joule said.

"Ah...But Orb didn't design those machines. Morgenroete did." Ian said. "And last time I checked, Morgenroete was a company, not a country. As such, could do what they please."

"But Morgenroete is a corporation of Orb." Ezalia argued.

"Yes. But Morgenroete is an independent company and is not the Orb government. And we have a treaty with the Orb government, not Morgenroete."

"This only further illustrates that those living on Earth cannot be trusted." Herman Gould said.

"Trusted? How arrogant is it to believe that we are the only trustworthy ones." Kessel said.

"However, Commander Le Creuset, are these prototype mobile suits wroth all of the sacrifices that have been made by our forces?" Patrick Zala asked, interrupting their argument.

Rau Le Creuset stood up again. "To explain the new mobile suits and their capabilities to you, I have one of our pilots with me, who has not only piloted one of the new machines and fought against the two machines that have remained with the enemy. Athrun Zala. He will give you the report on these new mobile suits. With your permission of course."

"I will allow Athrun Zala to present his report." Siegal Clyne said.

Athrun saluted and approached the council. The display screens in the council's tables came to life, showing the first of the new machines, the Aegis.

"First, this machine is known as the GAT-X303 'Aegis'. One major characteristic is it's ability to transform. Due to it's frame structure, it is fundamentally different from five of the other machines, this allows the machine to transform into a mobile armor. Upon transformation, it's equipped with the powerful 580-millimeter dual-phase energy cannon called Scylla. Along with the other machines, it comes with an armor system called Phase-Shift Armor, which has yet to be tested in actual battle. At present, we are reprogramming the OS to bring out it's maximum potential. And based on the specs of the machine, it is believed that these mobile suits are superior, both in technology and power, to ZAFT's main weapon, the GINN."

The Duel appeared, one of it's beam sabers drawn.

"GAT-X102, 'Duel'. This machine was developed with close-range combat in mind and has a wide range of uses. It's believed to the basis of the development of the other machines. Like the others, it has anti-air system 'Igelstellungs'. The machine also has a beam saber and an anti-beam shield.

Next, the Buster appeared, firing it's powerful cannon.

"GAT-X103, 'Buster'. This machines was designed with long-range artillery attacks in mind. It is believed that this machine was built to provide fire support from the rear and sniper attacks. It is not equipped with a shield, however it has a 350-millimeter gun launcher that uses attachments to become an ultrahigh-impulse long-range sniper rifle or an anti-armor shotgun."

Then the Blitz appeared. It raised it's arm and fired off it's missiles.

"GAT-X207, 'Blitz'. This one has a special feature called Mirage Colloid. Where by gas particles are released over the armor's surface, turning this machine virtually invisible to enemy eyes. This makes it effective for search and destroy missions. However, when this system is activated, it is unable to use it's Phase-Shift Armor System. It's believed that this machine was developed for blitzkrieg warfare. It is also equipped with it's own weapons, Trikeros and Gleipnir."

The images on the screens changed to images of the Surge racing into battle.

"GAT-X204 'Surge'. This machine is not only the sister unit to the Blitz, but is also the fastest of all the mobile suits from Heliopolis. In fact, it's maximum speed is faster than any of the current ZAFT mobile suits. The drawback however, is that repeated uses of it's high-speed capabilities rapidly drain it's battery. We believe that it was designed specifically as a counter to the high-speed mobile suits of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. It's primary weapons are a 55mm beam rifle, a pair of anti-armor swords and the "Hakenfaust" triple claw weapon."

The screens now displayed the Raven, firing off the twin barrels of it's railgun.

"Now the two that got away. First, the GAT-X305 'Raven'. Like the Aegis, this machine is able to transform into a fighter-like mobile armor. It's mobile armor form also appears to be able to double as a flight platform for other machines. It's primary weapon is the dual 52mm hyper velocity railgun with a shield attachment. It's main weapons in it's mobile armor mode is a pair of 76mm machineguns and the Ahura Mazda beam weapons mounted in the feet of the mobile armor. We suspect this machine was designed primary for atmospheric and space combat.

The screens changed to the final new machine, the Strike. Launching from the legged ship.

"Finally, the GAT-X105, Strike. From what we know, it is a machine capable of various types of combat. It's design allows this model to switch between a number of different weapon packs, named Launcher, Sword and Aile. From what we can tell, the Launcher has a 320-millimeter ultrahigh-impulse cannon. Our assumption is that it also has a 120-millimeter anti-ship Vulcan cannon as well as a 350-millimeter gun launcher. The Sword module equips it with a 15-meter long anti-ship blade and a beam boomerang. In addition, the machine carries two combat knives in it's hip section. It is assumed that this machine has a high combat potential."

"That is all." Athrun said before saluting and then returning to his seat.

"They've actually manufactured these abominations!" Jeremy Maxwell said, the disgust evident in his voice. "Those disgusting Naturals."

"But they're only in the trail stages. You can hardly consider seven mobile suits a threat." Eileen Canaver said.

"But if they've come this far, the next step would be to mass-produce." Ezalia said.

Ian Kessel started to laugh, causing everyone to stare at him. "I'm sorry. But this is just so ridiculous." he said. "You call those mobile suits abominations, but the Earth Forces are simply doing what must be done in war. If your enemy builds a superior weapon, than you must better weapon to counter that one. Frankly, I'm surprised that it took them this long to create their own mobile suits."

"How can you say that?" Gould asked. "This is a clear indication of the Naturals intentions. They crave war, a desire to violence and havoc."

Kessel laughed again. "Few people, whether Natural or Coordinator, ever truly crave war. Next you're going to say that all Coordinators care only about peace and all Naturals are Blue Cosmos members." he said. "Your thinking is just like that of Blue Cosmos. Narrow-minded and bigoted."

His comment sparked a massive shouting contest among many of the Council members. While Clyne vainly tried to reestablish order among the Council. When Patrick Zala spoke.

"There is no one who prefers to fight. Who among us actually wants to head out to a battlefield? We want to live peacefully, gracefully, and happily. That has always been our only wish." Zala stood up, his voice becoming louder. "But who so ruthlessly shattered that wish? Who took our freedom away for their own selfish ambitions? Who pushes us aside to better themselves? Who exploits the Coordinators?"

"Who will never let us forget the Bloody Valentine Tragedy? The nightmarish destruction of Junius Seven! 243,721 people. It has been one year since that abominable incident claimed so many of fellow citizens. Yet we've pondered endless to try to end this war quickly. Our demands have been minor. However, the Naturals have put our efforts to waste, time and time again!"

"We fight because it's the only way to protect ourselves. If we must fight to protect ourselves, then we have no choice but to fight!" Patrick Zala said, bringing his speech to an end.

Almost the entire Council was quiet. None could really argue with him. Save one.

"As always, you have a flare for the dramatic Zala. But using the victims of Junius Seven as rallying cry for war is despicable and an insult to their memory." Ian said with a mock applause.

Zala's face could barely conceal his rage. "How dare you say." Zala said, barely stopping himself from yelling. "My wife was killed at Junius Seven."

"Which is why someone like you should not be a member of this Council during this war." Ian replied. "Leaders, both political and military, should never have a personal reason for fighting a war. They must lead with a clear mind. Free of anger, hatred, and desire for revenge against the opposing force. They must be willing to hear any call for peace and even if there is only a slight chance, they must be willing to take it. I do not believe that you are able to, Zala. And frankly, I fear the day you come into power."

"My fellow Council members, as you know, I come from a long line of soldiers. I served in ZAFT's military before becoming a member of this Council. My wife and children are all fighting this war. I know how wars must be fought. We must fight this war with calm and rational minds. Not minds consumed by hatred and vengeance. It must be fought for peace and peaceful coexistence with the Naturals and the Earth. Not for retribution. Seeking retribution and vengeance will only lead to more death, more pain and suffering, more hatred."

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. I urge you, all of you, don't let this war become personal. Don't let this war become about vengeance for this lost at Junius Seven. Don't let this war become consumed by hatred. Nothing go will come of it. We must be better than those who destroyed Junius Seven. This war can not end the way it started. If it does, then nothing changes and the next war will just continuation of this one. It is our responsibility to ensure that our children, their children and all the children yet to be do not suffer from our mistakes."

* * *

Patrick Zala's Office

An Hour and a Half Later

"Damn that man!" Patrick Zala cursed. "That stubborn fool just can't see what needs to be done! He'll ruin everything! There has to be a way to remove him."

Rau quietly sighed as Zala continued to rant and rave about one of his biggest political opponents. Ian Kessel was proving to be a difficult political opponent. Though the man was for fighting the war, he was against Patrick Zala more radical views and sought to end the war peacefully. Unlike Zala and himself.

"Perhaps, but unfortunately, Kessel has a great pull with the military." Rau said. "He has support of a number of our armed forces and his wife is one of ZAFT's top admirals. Plus his daughter is the commander of one of our best units. Any direct action taken against him at the moment, could be disastrous to our cause."

"We won't be in this mess, if your assassin had done his job properly!" Zala yelled back. "If he taken out Alaric like was suppose to, we would have had the 11th Fleet under our control and discredited Kessel, all in one fell swoop!"

"At least, he managed to remove Alaric." Rau replied in his defense.

Alaric had been a major problem for them. On the one hand, he and the 11th Fleet had become icons of ZAFT's military might. But unfortunately, he was strongly opposed to Patrick Zala and his faction. Worse yet, from the early days of the war, he had been extremely suspicious of both of them. Alaric had becoming close to uncovering things that they had both sought to keep buried. Fortunately, they had a mole within the 11th Fleet who had informed them of all of this.

The three of them had created out a detailed plan for eliminating Alaric and then framing Diana Kessel as his killer and an Earth Forces spy. Allowing a more supportive commander to take over the 11th Fleet. It would have also tainted the reputation of the Kessel family, branding them with the suspicion of treachery and would have greatly weaken their support.

Unfortunately, by pure chance, Diana Kessel discovered the assassin in the act of killing Alaric and killed him. But not before Alaric was fatally wounded. Though she killed the assassin before he could name them. Naturally, he labeled a Earth Forces spy. And Diana Kessel replaced her mentor, John Alaric, as commander of the 11th.

Though Diana disliked and didn't trust both Zala and himself, she didn't seem to continuing his investigation into the two of them. Or at very least, didn't have anything she could use at the moment. Which was fortunate as she was a wild card that could possibly disrupt their plans. And any disruption this late in the game could jeopardize everything he had worked for.

Perhaps he'd see about getting the legged ship and it's mobile suits to deal with her.

* * *

Debris Belt

February 2 C.E. 71

Chris sighed as the Raven flew through the all debris and garbage that made up the Debris Belt. He and Kira had split up and were searching the area for supplies they desperately needed. Once they found something, they would call the Archangel and they would send out teams to retrieve the supplies. But at the moment, they hadn't found much of any thing.

"Hey Chris, have you found anything yet?" Liz asked over the comm.

"Nah. There's nothing really here." he replied as he maneuvered under some debris. "This is starting to look like a-"

Chris froze the second he maneuvered around the debris and saw what was in front of him.

_'No...It can't be...'_

"Chris? What is it? Chirs? Brother, are you there? What do you see?" he heard his sister ask.

But his thoughts were entirely on what was in front of him. Somehow, he managed to speak. But he wasn't sure how he was able to say anything.

"What do you see? Chris? Are you there? Please respond." Liz frantically said over the comm.

"Home..." Chris replied, his voice quiet and faint. "Liz...It's home..."

Liz's face instantly became pale and like her brother, she was paralyzed from shock.

"What is he talking about?" Captain Ramius asked. "What has he found?"

"Our home before the war started...Junius Seven."

* * *

Finally, I can reveal that little secret. Of course compared to a few of the other things I have been considering for Seed and Destiny, this pretty much nothing. Before anyone asks, no, he never met Athrun or his family. They just lived in the same colony. And I have to ask, did anyone actually see this coming? Cause I left a few hints in the previous chapters and some of you might of figured it out.


	8. Phase Seven: The Scar of Space

Yo everybody. I got nothing much to say today. So on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed

**Phase Seven: The Scar of Space**

Archangel

February 2 C.E. 71

"You can't be serious!" Kira shouted at Mu. "You can't honestly expect us to take our supplies from there! That PLANT is where thousands of people died!"

"Look, no one here is exactly jumping for joy here. But the fact of the matter is that we need that water and the supplies there. We have to do what we must to survive. And besides, there's still two people we haven't heard from that we really should." Mu said, turning to Chris and his sister. "Well, what do you two think?"

"What? You want to know what we think?" Chris asked.

"Well, this was your home. So we should hear thoughts on this." Mu said.

"Well...Truth be told, I don't like the idea of stealing from the grave of so many of my friends and family. But we don't have any other choice. We need the supplies and as long as we take only what is needed and nothing else, then we should do it." Chris answered.

"I agree with my brother." Elizabeth said. "Our parents, our friends, everyone we knew that died there would want us to survive."

* * *

The Ruins of Junius Seven

An Hour Later

The Raven, the Strike, the Moebius Zero and several Mistrals set down on the ruins of Junius Seven. They had landed in the middle of what had once been a park. A very familiar park for Chris. It was the park where he had met his best friend.

_

* * *

___

Flashback

_Junius Seven_

_Seven Years Ago_

_A trio of bullies were beating up on a smaller, younger boy in the middle of a park._

"_What pathetic loser!"_

"_Yeah. Who in their right mind would think that a Natural is as good as a Coordinator?"_

"_We'll show this piece of trash just how wrong he is!"_

"_Hey ugly!" Chris shouted, kicking one of the older boys in the back. "Didn't your mommy teach you to pick on someone your own size?"_

_The bully fell forward, hitting the pavement. He was out cold. His two buddies turned and started shouting at him._

"_What are you doing?!"_

"_Why are you defending a traitor to his own people?!"_

"_A traitor to his own people?" Chris said in confusion._

"_Yeah." the first bully said. "This traitor claims that those filthy Naturals are as good as us Coordinators. So we're teaching him a lesson."_

_Chris glanced at the boy. The boy was about his age and look terrified and in rough shape. What ever the boy said, it wasn't enough for anyone to have the right to beat him like that._

"_Well in that case...I have to agree with him. You two are about as stupid and as bigoted as those Blue Cosmos nutjobs!" Chris said to the larger and older boys._

"_Why you little punk!" one of the bullies shouted as he swung his fist at him._

_Now Chris may have been smaller and younger than these two, but he had one clear advantage over these guys. For the last few years, he had been taking martial arts lessons and he was quite good at it. In fact, his instructor told him that by next year, he be ready to participate in tournaments and competitions._

_Chris raised his left arm, blocking the punch. Then before he could pull back, Chris kicked the bully in the stomach as hard as he could. The punk stumbled back, clutching his stomach and moaning. To everyone's surprise, he fell to his knees and started throwing up. The second bully, fearful of losing his own lunch and without his two buddies to back him up, ran away. A moment later, the one that lost his lunch joined him. They were complete cowards. They harassed people that were smaller than them and wouldn't fight back. But as soon as someone fought back, they would flee like the cowards they are._

_Chris walked up to the battered boy laying on the ground. "You okay?" he asked, kneeling down._

"_Yeah..." the boy said. "You didn't have to help me."_

"_True. But it was three against one and wasn't about to let a bunch of spineless bullies beat up somebody." he replied, extending his hand. "Here."_

_The boy took his hand and Chris helped him get back up to his feet. The boy was in pretty rough shape. He had a number of bruises and cuts but nothing appeared to be broken. "C'mon, I'll take you to my parents. They're doctors." he said, helping the injured boy walk to his house. "My name's Chris, Chris Dante."_

"_I'm-_

"Chris!" Kira said loudly over the radio, bringing him out of his memories.

"Huh...What?"

"You spaced out there for moment." Kira said, deeply concerned.

"Just lost in some memories." Chris replied.

"You don't have to be here. You can head back to the ship."

"I'll be fine Kira." Chris lied.

Truth be told he wasn't even sure why he was even setting the Raven down here, on what had once been his home. Even more painful was the fact that this park was only a few blocks away from the house he grew up in.

The Mistral crews began to exit their vehicles. Liz stepped out of a Mistral, holding a number of paper flowers in her arms. The flowers had been made by Flay and the children they had recovered from Heliopolis.

Liz threw the paper flowers up, scattering them across the ruins of their former home. Everyone took a minute of silence, saying a prayer for the victims of the Bloody Valentine.

Once they were done, everyone returned to their Mistrals and carried out their various duties. The Strike, the Raven, and the Moebius Zero took off, patrolling the area. Just in case.

* * *

The Archangel

Later the Night

Chris sighed as he collapsed onto his bed. He felt physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted after everything that had happened. He was about to fall asleep when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Chris said as he sat up.

The door opened revealing Flay. "What can I do for you Flay?" he asked as she enter the room.

"I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened to your home." Flay said.

"Don't. I have had enough apologies from people over this." Chris said. "I wish people would stop pitying me when they learn where I'm from."

Flay seemed to hesitate for moment. Like she was trying to decide whether or not to leave. "Is there something else?" he asked.

"Yes...There was something I wanted to say. Something I need to say." Flay said.

"Well then, say it."

"You see...Before this war broke out, I didn't think too highly of Coordinators. I kinda believed some of what Blue Cosmos said. And when the war broke out, I started to believe that all Coordinators were with ZAFT and the bad guys while all Naturals and the Earth Forces were the good guys. Even though the Earth Forces caused the Bloody Valentine. I completely ignored it because I wasn't effected by it. It was the same with the war. I completely tuned it out because I had nothing to do with it and I was living in a neutral colony. I thought that whatever happened on Earth or in space wouldn't affect me." Flay confessed. "But then Heliopolis was attacked and all that happened afterwards, and I found everything changing. I began to realize that everything I had believed about the war was wrong. And everything I believed about Coordinators as well. And that is also what I want to apologize for. For anything and everything negative about Coordinators that I ever said or thought."

Chris stared at her for a moment. Such a confession was an easy thing for anyone to admit.

Chris stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "I accept your apology." he said. "Truth be told, when I was younger I didn't thing much of Naturals. Even though my own grandfather was one. I thought they were stubborn, bigoted idiots. Then about seven years ago, I was walking home from school when I saw a boy my age getting beaten up by some punks. They were beating him up because he said that Coordinators weren't better than Naturals. I felt the same disgust towards those bullies that had for Blue Cosmos. And that was when I realized that Coordinators could be just as bad as members of Blue Cosmos. I defended the boy and after that, we quickly became best friends."

Chris didn't know why, but something was compelling to him to say this to her. Something he hadn't said to anyone before

"He believed that most people, whether they were Coordinator or Natural, just wanted to live peacefully together. That we were all the same. That we all have the same dreams, hopes, fears." Chris said, his mind going back to the times before the Bloody Valentine. "He was a lot like Kira. He hated violence and was a complete pacifist. In fact, when I rescued him from those bullies, we was actually more worried about me getting involved and getting hurt than what happened to him."

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes..." Chris said quietly. "He was killed in the Bloody Valentine. And not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Along with my parents and all my other friends I lost that terrible day."

"But the worst thing I ever did happened after that terrible day. I became angry at just about everyone. The Earth Alliance and Blue Cosmos for doing such a horrible act. ZAFT for failing to protect my friends and family and then using their deaths as a rallying cry for war. I blamed them all for that tragedy. I even blamed myself for not being and dying with them." Chris said, shame filling his voice. "I found myself being consumed by all that anger and pain. I started picking fights with people for on real reason. I don't know why I did it. Maybe wanted to hurt those responsible but ended up hurting innocent people. Maybe I wanted to feel something other anger and sorrow. Maybe I just wanted someone to kill me."

Suddenly, Flay embraced him in a hug. And for the first time since the Bloody Valentine, he cried. He cried for all those that he had lost.

* * *

Ruins of Junius Seven

February 5 C.E. 71

The days had been long and quiet since they found the ruins of Junius Seven. Kira couldn't complain. He preferred it over fighting another battle.

"That was close." he heard Chris over the radio say. "I just shot down a GINN guys."

"It's a long-range scout." Mu said. "It's unlikely that a ZAFT warship is nearby. But there may be more of them out there. So keep a close eye on things. Ensign Badgiruel, how long until we're done loading up the last of the supplies?"

"We should be done in approximately an hour." she replied.

"Good. Captain, once the supplies are loaded, we should head out just to be on the safe side."

"I agree, Lieutenant La Flaga." Ramius replied. "As soon as the last of the supplies are loaded, we'll be leaving the Debris Belt for Lunar HQ."

Kira resumed his patrol. The moon. They would soon be heading for the moon. Where Kira could leave this war behind and return to his normal life.

He moved around a large piece of debris when he spotted a badly damaged civilian shuttle. Normally, he would have passed it off just a piece of space junk but it was too new. Both the ship and it's battle damage. It must have been raided by pirates and then drifted into the Debris Belt. He had heard that with both ZAFT's and the Earth Alliance's military fighting the war, they were unable to patrol the civilian space routes and as a result, piracy had dramatically increased.

Suddenly, a GINN appeared. The Strike's computer identified it as a GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type. The GINN was inspecting the shuttle. It was searching for something.

Kira moved behind some debris, hoping that the GINN would leave before it spotted anyone. He didn't want to kill anyone else. The GINN, seemingly satisfied that what it was looking for wasn't on the shuttle, started to leave.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. As the Mistral that Kuzzey was on, started it's return to the Archangel. It's flightpath passing near the shuttle. GINN glanced back, spotting the Mistral. It immediately turned and headed towards the Mistral.

"No!" Kira cursed. "Why couldn't you just leave?"

He had no choice, if the GINN spotted the Archangel, it would be all over. He aimed at the GINN and squeezed the trigger a few times. His shots hit the GINN dead on, destroying it instantly.

"Thanks kid. That was a close one." Jackie Tonomura said.

"Yeah, thanks Kira." Kuzzey added.

Kira didn't feel all that great about saving them. Again, he had killed someone. Why did he have to get involved in this war? Why did this war have to happen in the first place?

Kira sighed as he resumed his patrol. Maybe a minute later, he spotted something. A lone escape pod floating among the debris.

_'Could it be from the shuttle? Is there still someone alive in there?'_

Deciding it was better to safe than sorry, he picked up the pod and headed back to the Archangel.

* * *

Chris watched as the technicians started unlocking the pod. He, Kira, Captain Ramius, Mu, Ensign Badgiruel, some of the crews from Mistrals and a group of security guards were all standing around the pod waiting.

"Are we gonna make picking up strays like this, a habit?" Mu jokingly asked.

"Maybe the Archangel's become the patron saint of strays." Chris replied.

Mu chuckled. "It's starting to look like it."

The pod opened up and a bright pink ball flew out. Chris caught it.

"Haro! Hello there! Haro!" the ball shouted, round flaps on it's sides flapping wildly, startling him.

"What?! What is this?!" he said, staring at the pink machine.

"That's Mister Pink." a voice said.

A voice he knew. A voice anyone from the PLANTs would know.

_'No way...It couldn't be.'_

Chris looked up. It was Lacus Clyne. Famous singer and daughter of the Chairman of ZAFT. The pink haired girl floated out of the escape pod and kept on going. Kira caught the floating girl, putting her back on her feet.

"Thank you." she politely said to Kira, before looking at the EA markings on his uniform. "Oh my. This isn't a ZAFT ship, is it?"

Everyone just stared at her in surprise.

"You're...Lacus Clyne." Liz said in a state of disbelief.

Chris glanced at his sister. She was the biggest Lacus Clyne fan he had ever met. Her eyes were wide in surprise at the sight of her idol.

"Why yes I am."

"Miss Clyne." she said, passing her way to the young diva. "Miss Clyne, it's an honor to meet you. Can I please have your autograph?"

Chris sighed. "Liz...Miss Clyne has no doubt been through a lot. Don't harass her like a rabid fangirl. I'm sure she could use some rest."

"Rabid fangirl! Haro! Rabid fangirl!" the strange ball robot shouted.

_'The guy who made this thing better hope he never meets me. I want to kick his ass for making this evil thing. Same with the guy who made Birdie.'_

As if on some magical cue, Birdie landed on his head.

"Birdie. Birdie."

"Haro! Birdie! Haro!

Chris feel a vein on the side of his head throb. He was growing to hate these annoying mechanical pets. "Someone please take things away from me before I throw them out an airlock." he said. "Why do these annoying these always latch onto me? What do they find so appealing about me?"

Just everyone laughed or chuckled as grabbed Birdie and that annoying pink ball.

"That's alright." Lacus said as Kira handed her back her robot. "I'd be happy to give her an autograph. And please, call me Lacus."

"Really?! Someone get me a pen and some paper, quick!" Liz shouted in joy.

Mu chuckled. "Well, things are definitely getting interesting."

* * *

An Hour Later

"Captain, all of the supplies have been brought on board and secured." Joanna Dante said as she entered the bridge. "We're ready to leave."

"Newmann, take us out of the Debris Belt and back on to Lunar HQ." Ramius ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Newmann said as he powered up the engines and started maneuvering out of the debris field.

"So what are we gonna do about our new guest?" Mu asked, but truth be told, just about everyone was wondering that.

"We aren't going to be making any other stops before we reach Lunar HQ." Badgiruel said. "And she's a civilian. So she is no real danger."

"Of course not." Mu said sarcastically. "They'd welcome her with open arms. She is after all, Clyne's daughter."

"Lieutenant La Flaga." Murrue said sternly. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but we don't have any other choice."

"Actually, there may be another way." Joanna said. "We can hide her amongst the civilians of Heliopolis. She'll be sent with them to Orb. Then the Orb government will simply send her to a nearby ZAFT base and they'll send her back to the PLANTs."

"Hmm...Could that really work?" Murrue asked.

"If everyone on board agrees to it. Then yes." Joanna replied.

"Ma'am!" Romero said, interrupting their conversation. "We're receiving a transmission."

"Who is it from?" Murrue asked.

"I'm verifying it right now." Romero replied. "It's from the 8th Fleet!"

"It's from Admiral Halberton." Murrue said, practically jumping out of her chair. "Patch it through."

Static filled the bridge's speakers. "Arch...gel...Come...Archangel...This is...gomery..." the voice said, growing clearer and clearer. "Come in Archangel...This is the Montgomery. We've been dispatched to rendezvous with you and escort you to the rest of the 8th Fleet."

A loud cheer filled the bridge. It looked like their luck was finally turning around.

* * *

The Bridge of the Odin

Elsewhere

"Sir. We've detected three Earth Forces warships."

"Out this far? That's unusual." Lucius said.

"They could be an escort for the legged ship." Captain Lee said.

"Indeed. That is likely what they're out here." Diana said. "Have they detected us yet?"

"Unknown sir. As you know, we're on the edge of the Debris Belt. May or may not be able to detect us."

"Hmm...If they have detected us, they'll warn the legged ship. And depending on the Captain of that vessel, they'll either stay away or come to their assistance." Diana said, contemplating her next move.

"Sir. The Vesalius is hailing us."

Diana let out a sigh of annoyance. She hated having to take orders from that man. But orders were orders. Until the legged ship was captured or destroyed, she was stuck.

"Commander Kessel, it seems we've found some unexpected guests. It safe to assume that they're here for the legged ship. Which means that we should remove them from the field immediately." Creuset said.

"So we're switching from searching for Miss Clyne, back to our original mission." Diana said. "You're planning on using that small fleet as bait to draw in the legged ship."

"Yes. Either the legged ship will come to their allies aid, in which case, we'll be able to destroy it right here and now. Or they'll flee, in which case, they'll be alone and likely low on supplies. So why don't you deploy that Speartip maneuver that your fleet is so famous for." Creuset said.

Diana nodded. "Very well. I'll deploy the Speartip Team. Once they've done their damage and pulled back, I'll be sending the rest of the 11th Fleet to engage them. If the legged ship comes to their aid, we'll destroy those three warships with cannons of the Odin, the Valkyrie and the Einherjar and move against the legged ship. If not, then the mobile suits will shoot them down. I assume that you'll be deploying the rest of the mobile suits as well."

"Of course." Creuset said before closing the connection.

"Damn masked freak." Ajay cursed. "Who does he think he is, bossing us around like that?"

"Never the less, that masked freak has been put in charge. Until then we can rid ourselves of him, we have to carry out his orders." Diana said. "We're deploying the Speartip. Bring the ship up to full combat alert. Inform the Valkyrie and the Einherjar. Get Hilda up here on the double."

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir." among the bridge officers before carrying out their orders. A few minutes later, Hilda Harkin, clad in her black pilot suit, stepped onto the bridge. "Sir." the one-eyed woman said, saluting. "What's our mission? Is it the legged ship?"

"A small Earth Forces battlegroup. That will be your target." Diana said. "It's likely heading to meet up with the legged ship."

"That sucks. I was hoping for a challenge."

"I know. Cripple and paint those warships. Then fall back and we'll will do the rest."

Hilda saluted again. "Yes sir."

* * *

The mobile suit catapults of the Odin, the Valkyrie and the Einherjar deployed as the hanger doors opened. Revealing black and purple GINNs.

"Alright guys, our orders are to cripple and paint the Earth Forces warships. If we're lucky, the legged ship will come to help them." Hilda said.

"That should be too hard." Herbert Von Reinhardt lazily said.

"Yeah! I wanna see what the big fuss everyone's been making over this new warship and it's mobile suits." Mars Simeon said, eager for combat.

"Let's do it guys!" Hilda shouted as her GINN launched from the Odin.

"Right!" Mars shouted.

"Yeah. Yeah." Herbert said.

Herbert and Mars followed, launching from the Valkyrie and the Einherjar. All three GINNs took off at blazing speeds for the Earth Forces battleships and hopefully, the legged ship would show up.

* * *

The Archangel

Chris quietly ate his lunch as the citizens they had recovered from Heliopolis were talking. Everyone was relived that they were soon gonna meet up with an Earth Forces fleet. They all felt that soon they would be safe from an ZAFT attacks. Chris was a little more pessimistic. He didn't believe that anyone would be truly safe until they reached Orb territory.

Of course, it also meant that it was nearing time for him to decide whether or not to continue fighting. Chris was pretty sure that Kira was gonna leave. He didn't seem to be cut out for war. He on the other hand wasn't so sure. He could, like Kira, go back to Orb and be done with this war. Or would he stay and fight? He honestly didn't know. His grandfather once told him that people should only fight for three reasons. For honor. For a cause they truly believed in. And above all else, to protect lives.

"What? My father's coming?" he heard Flay say.

Chris glanced at the end of the table. Flay was talking to Sai.

"Yes." Sai said. "He's with the advance force coming to meet us."

_'Well now. That's some rare good news. We've have nothing but bad luck since Heliopolis.'_

"Really?"

"Yeah. I bet he has no idea that you're on board. We just forwarded our crew and passenger lists."

Chris still didn't why he had broken down when Flay had visited him a few days ago. He had never spoken the things he said to Flay before. He never really liked taking about that kinda stuff. And yet he said it all to Flay, a girl he known for only a short amount of time, and then broke down in her arms. For what had to be the millionth time, he wondered why did that and why Flay seemed to be increasingly on his mind.

A sudden thought entered his mind. _'It's simple. You're in love with her.'_

_'No! I can't be. She's arranged to marry Sai. So I can't be in love with her.'_

_'What does her marriage arrangement have to do with your feelings for her?'_

Chris quickly buried those thoughts. Flay was Sai's girlfriend. That meant look but don't touch. He wasn't going to come between the two of them. Maybe he stay on board just to stay away from Flay.

_'I guess it really doesn't matter. We'll soon meet up with the advanced fleet and be on our way to the moon. Then they'll send us back to Orb and I doubt we'll see each other that much after that.'_

Little did he know just how wrong he was.

* * *

That's all for now. As always, please review.


	9. Phase Eight: Fading Light

Yo everybody. Sorry about the long wait. I've got this entire story planned and most of Destiny planned out. In fact, I've got most of the final chapter of SEED written out. Complete with the surprise I'm preparing for everyone. And frankly, I have to get to the end of SEED now and start Destiny. It's driving me nuts because I want to write Destiny because of all of the things I have planned. Because five characters that died during SEED, are gonna survive and be in Destiny. While Flay will obviously survive, she's not one of those five. Though there will be a price for their survival.

bloodyknight85: Lol. Yeah Zala's failures and actions will come back to bite him in the end. Particularly, with the 11th Fleet. Especially, since the Speartip Team are actual characters from Seed Destiny. I'm kinda surprised that no one has spotted that yet. As to your comment on Flay, you're absolutely right. I disliked Flay during most of Seed, then she was captured by Creuset and I began to like her and I didn't that at the end of all that, she died. The interesting thing is that when I created Chris and his backstory, I didn't realize that it was similar to happened to Flay. He's been to where Flay is gonna go and he's gonna help pull her out of that path. So you'll see a different Flay from the canon.

I'm kinda surprised that no one has noticed who the Speartip Team is. I would have thought that one person would have said, "Hey. I know those guys.". But no one ever did. So I'll tell you all who they are. The Speartip Team members are the future DOM Trooper pilots of Gundam Seed Destiny. Of course, those of you that didn't realize were I was going with the 11th Fleet, should have a very clear idea now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED.

**Phase Eight: Fading Light**

Athrun sat in the cockpit of the Aegis. Preparing it for for combat. Around him, the GINNs were equipping heavy weapons. Save for the blood red one standing across from the Aegis. Zane Scirocco's GINN.

There was something about Zane that unsettled him. Athrun had no idea what it was. But there was definitely something about him that made him uncomfortable.

Athrun opened up the comm to Zane's GINN. "Zane, why aren't you equipping your GINN with heavy weapons, like the others?"

"I don't need such weapons." Zane said. "This rifle and sword are more than enough for these weaklings."

"Weaklings?"

"Yes. Those pathetic Naturals are all weak. Even if they could come up with a mobile suit for Naturals, none could ever hope to match the skill of a Coordinator." Zane said nonchalantly. "They're like lambs to the slaughter."

* * *

"Alright guys, you know the drill." Hilda said to her comrades as they approached the EA warships. "Cripple and paint."

"Man. This won't be any fun. They don't stand a chance against us." Mars said.

"But it'd be disrespectful to them to hold back." Herbert replied.

"Ha ha ha ha...You got that right."

"Cut the chatter you two. We got work to do." Hilda said, silencing her comrades.

The trio descended on the Earth Forces. No doubt, the mobile armor pilots of this fleet thought that they could take three GINNs. But that would change when they saw their black and purple colors. Then the fear would come. Fear was the greatest weapon of the 11th Fleet. The Black Hawk had gather them all, the mavericks and undesirables of ZAFT's armed forces. And he molded them into an elite fighting force. The best and most feared fighting force in ZAFT.

They didn't bother slowing down. Speed was their second greatest weapon.

"For the Black Hawk!" Hilda shouted, firing on the incoming mobile armors.

"For the Black Hawk!" Mars and Herbert shouted as they too opened fire.

* * *

"Three silhouettes detected at long range. Identifying now. It's the Montgomery, the Bernard and the Law." Romero said.

"Looks like we've made it." Murrue said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ma'am! Our radar's being jammed."

"What?"

"I'm detecting heat signatures from the advanced fleet. It looks like a battle is breaking out." Jackie called from the CIC.

"Ma'am, a message from the Montgomery. Reads: Cancel rendezvous. Continue to the Eighth Fleet on your own." Romero said.

"How many enemies are there?" Murrue asked.

"Four Nazca-class warships are position near the advanced fleet. Three GINN High Maneuver Types currently engaging the fleet."

"Your orders Captain?" Ensign Badgiruel asked.

"Looks like our luck has run out again. There's no guarantee that we would be able to escape safely if we fled now. Considering it's the 11th Fleet and possibly the Creuset Team we're up against." Murrue paused for a moment, sighing. "All hands, level one battle stations! The Archangel will provide reinforcement for the advanced fleet."

* * *

"All hands, report to level one battle stations! I repeat..."

"Figures." Chris said to himself. "Finally get a little time to kick back and relax. And they attack us again."

He left his room as Kira left his own room, across from his. The two sprinted towards the hanger.

"Here I thought we be home free. But I guess those guys pursuing us are a lot more stubborn than I thought." he said to Kira.

"I just wish they'd leave us alone." Kira replied.

Suddenly, to their surprise, the supposedly locked door to Miss Clyne's room opened and Miss Clyne stuck her head out. "My. What's all the commotion about?" she asked.

"Don't tell me that Liz has been talking to you and forgot to lock the door." Chris said in an annoyed tone.

"Actually, both she and Mr. Yamato have been visiting me." she replied.

_'Kira's been talking to Miss Clyne? That's odd. I wonder why.'_

"The ship's going into battle and we have to report to our battle stations." Kira explained. "And you should stay in your room."

"Are you going to be fighting Mr. Yamato, Mr. Dante?" she asked.

"Yes." Chris said. "Now listen to Kira and get back in your room."

"I don't wanna! I don't wanna!" that annoying little Haro squawked as it bounced around.

"Too bad." Chris said before grabbing the little robot. "Cause you're going back in."

He tossed the little pink ball back into the room. Not hard mind you, he didn't wanna break Miss Clyne's little robot pet, even if he did hate it. Miss Clyne stepped back into her room and closed the door.

They continued on their way to the hanger. But they didn't get to far when they bumped into Flay.

"Chris! Kira!" she shouted, getting their attention. "What's going on? Are we going into battle? Is the ship my dad's on, going to be okay?"

"Don't worry Flay, we'll protect the ship your dad is on. I promise." Kira said.

Chris, a bit more pessimistic, said. "We'll do our best to protect your father's ship."

* * *

Hilda opened fire on the Law's engines. Crippling the vessel. A trio of mobile armors opened fire on her. But her GINN was too fast. She dodged their shots and started to circle the Law. Her GINN's head always facing the Law, it's red monoeye glowing brighter than normal. Painting the warship for the warships of the 11th Fleet.

A green light blinked on her console, signaling that the Odin and the other warships had received the coordinates of the Law.

"This one's painted." Herbert said. "All we got left is the flagship."

"Good. Let's finish this up guys." Hilda said.

The Archangel entered the battlefield, firing it's Valiants as the Moebius Zero, the Strike and the Raven launched from the ship.

Unfortunately, that was what the two Commanders of the ZAFT fleet were waiting for.

* * *

"Sir. The legged ship has entered the battle."

Diana Kessel smiled. She had hoped that they would fall for the trap. "Recall the Speartip Team. Deploy all mobile suits. Have the Odin, the Valkyrie and the Einherjar fire their main batteries on the painted warships." she said from the cockpit of her CGUE. "And everyone, leave the Moebius Zero to me."

"But sir, we haven't received the coordinates of Nelson-class."

"Then we will bring you the coordinates or destroy it ourselves."

"Yes sir."

"Diana Kessel. Panther Mk II launching." She said as the catapult launched her CGUE.

All of the remaining mobile suits of the 11th Fleet followed.

* * *

Rau smiled as the legged ship and it's mobile suits arrived on the battlefield. "The stars of the show has arrived. Let's make sure we give them a warm welcome. Deploy all mobile suits."

The Aegis launched first, followed by Zane's GINN and the remaining GINNs. It was time to end this.

Kira fired at one of the black and purple GINNs, but it dodged the incoming beams and fired off an RPG at him. Kira dodged the RPG and was about to fire, when the GINN took off. Fleeing the battlefield.

The surviving Moebius pilots of the advanced fleet let out a cheer. "You guys managed to scare them off!" one pilot said.

"No." Lieutenant La Flaga grimly said. "We haven't scared them off. That was just the Speartip. The actual attack is coming."

"Incoming mobile suits!" Ensign Badgiruel shouted over the comm. "The Aegis, a single CGUE and at least thirteen GINNs!"

Kira's eye widened in surprise. How could they beat that many mobile suits?

"What?! That's at least fifteen mobile suits! How are we suppose to beat that many?" Chris said.

Mu sighed as the ZAFT mobile suits arrived. "We don't have any other choice. Here they come. Get ready."

Suddenly, two pairs of beams shot out and struck the Law and the Bernard. Destroying them.

_'No...'_

Kira gripped the controls of the Strike tighter. They had just taken out two of the three ships that made up the advanced fleet. He had to protect the Montgomery. He had promised Flay that nothing would happen to her father. And he wasn't gonna let her down.

* * *

"So Athrun, which one do you want? The Strike or the Raven?" Zane asked as the two reached the battlefield.

Zane already knew what Athrun was going to say. He was going to go after his traitor friend piloting the Strike. No doubt Athrun would try to disarm and disable the Strike so he could take his friend. It was pathetic. The traitor had clearly made his choice. Only thing that should be done is destroy the Strike and the traitor pilot.

"I'll go after the Strike." Athrun replied.

_'Pathetic fool. Just as predicable as you father.'_

Zane turned his attention to the remaining mobile suit. The Raven. There was an odd feeling in the back of his mind. But he brushed it aside. Now wasn't the time for such things.

* * *

"Time for our rematch, Mu La Flaga." a woman's voice said, as the CGUE firing on his Moebius Zero.

Mu barely managed to make a sharp right turn, dodging the incoming bullets. He recognized the CGUE's colors. It was same one as that last GINN he shot down at Endymion. Apparently, this woman was the pilot and she had survived and now wanted a rematch.

_'Figures. This must be payback for all the skirts I chased when I was a kid.'_

Mu dove as she opened fire on him. The CGUE closely followed, firing off well aimed burst as it chased him. This was going to one difficult battle.

* * *

The Raven, in it's mobile armor mode, dove as the blood red GINN opened fire on him. A few rounds struck the Raven, but had little impact on it's phase-shift armor. This pilot was good. Very good. But this mobile suit had some tricks up it's sleeve.

The Raven spun as it transformed back into it's mobile suit mode and fired it's railguns. Zane barely dodged the twin high-velocity rounds.

"Tricky bastard." Zane said. "Take this!"

Zane fired on the Raven while dodging more of the Raven's shots. To his annoyance, his rounds had little effect on it's armor. Zane discarded the useless rifle and drew his sword. He moved in close to the Raven, preventing it from firing it's railguns. He swung his sword at the mobile suit. Chris brought the Raven's shield up, blocking the strike. Chris drew a beam saber and attacked. The GINN sidestepped the attack.

"Not bad. But not good enough!!" Zane said as he drove the GINN's left fist into the Raven's head.

"Damn. This guy's good. Better than I am." Chris said.

The Raven swung it's beam saber at the GINN. The GINN turned, bring it's shield in front of the saber's path, blocking the attack.

* * *

"Captain. We've gotten coordinates for the Nelson-class."

"Alert our forces." Captain Lee said. "Once they've acknowledged, open fire."

A few minutes later, the main cannons of the Odin fired. Twin beams streaked through space. No one could stop the beams from hitting their target. The Montgomery. The beams pierced the battleship's hull. The Montgomery exploded in a massive fireball.

* * *

"No..." Chris whispered.

Things had gone from bad to worse. No, scratch that. This was beyond worse. The Archangel was now completely alone and outnumbered. The GINNs of the 11th Fleet moved in on the Archangel. With the Strike, the Raven, and the Moebius Zero busy with their own battles, it was defenseless.

"Attention ZAFT Forces." Badgiruel said over the comm. "This is the Earth Alliance warship, the Archangel. We have on board, Miss Lacus Clyne. Daugther of ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman Siegal Clyne."

Everyone stopped.

"Ah...Dammit." Chris said. "This isn't gonna end well."

"Who gives a damn about the Pink Princess?" Zane said.

"This is unexpected." Diana said. "All forces, withdraw immediately!"

"WHAT?!" Zane shouted.

Rau stared out on the battlefield. This changed everything. "I agree." Rau said. "We must withdraw for the time being."

The ZAFT Forces immediately started leaving the battlefield.

"Gah!" Zane shouted, punching his main screen, before he too withdrew from the battlefield.

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

The Raven's cockpit hatch opened. Chris pulled off his helmet and sighed. Things were really screwed up. He hated what Badgiruel did. But at the same time, it save them from certain death. The question was, what now?

"Chirs!" Liz shouted, floating up to him.

"What?"

"Something happened." Liz said. "Flay dragged Lacus onto the bridge and demanded that we tell the ZAFT Forces to stop attacking or she'd kill Lacus."

Chris sighed. He was gonna have to talk to her about that.

* * *

Zane was angry. Not at the retreat. But at the damned Raven. Zane could tell that he was the better pilot, but the damned machine was too strong. The GINN's rifle was useless against that machine's armor.

"Sir, would you like us to get you another rifle for your GINN?" a mechanic asked.

"No. I need something heavier."

"We could equip it with a heavy particle cannon."

"No. That will slow down my GINN too much." Zane said. "Do we have any heavier rifles?"

"I'm not sure. I'll check our inventory."

"Do you have the 11th Fleet's inventory list as well?"

"Ah...Yeah. Why?"

"Check their inventory as well." Zane said. "I need a stronger weapon that doesn't weight down my GINN too much. If the 11th Fleet refuses to give you anything, tell them Commander Creuset ordered it."

"Yes sir." the mechanic said before leaving to carry out his orders.

"Next time, I will destroy that machine."

* * *

"LAIR!" he heard Flay shout as he entered her quarters.

Kira, Sai and Miri were there with her. Flay was yelling at Kira.

"And YOU!!" Flay shouted at him. "You're a lair, too!! You both promised that nothing would happen to my father! But you weren't even trying! It's because you're Coordinators!"

Normally, Chris would have let her vent for a little while longer. But enough was enough.

"That's enough!" Chris shouted. "We fought as hard as we could. But even that wasn't good enough to save them. Claiming that we weren't trying hard enough, is an insult! More people died today than just your father! Don't think that you're the only one that's lost someone today! This is a war! People are dying everyday! Quit being selfish and grow up! If you really want to take your anger out on someone, than take it out on me!"

Flay slapped him. "Come on! I thought you were angry!"

Flay slapped him again. Harder.

"Come on! Hit me! Use all that anger and hit me with it!"

"Stop it!" Kira shouted. "This is pointless!"

Chris turned to him. "Stay out of this. I know what I'm-"

_WHAM!!!_

Chris stood there for a moment. "Ow." was all he said, before collapsing.

Flay stood over him, breathing heavily, tears still following down her face and holding a now-bent food tray.

* * *

Later

Chris groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. "What hit me?"

"Flay." Liz said.

"Damn." Chris said, rubbing his head. "I wouldn't have antagonized her if I knew she hit that hard."

"She hit you with a food tray."

"Oh. That explains things. I thought I was getting weak there for a moment."

"So, besides the tray to your head, did that accomplish?"

"We'll have to see. Maybe nothing. Maybe something." Chris said. "So how long was I out?"

"About forty-five minutes." Liz replied. "You're lucky your skull's as thick as it is."

Chris shrugged. "Anything changed?"

"Nah. We're still pretty much in the same situation." his sister replied. "Kira's getting ready to take Miss Clyne to the ZAFT Fleet."

"Really? Aren't we using her as a hostage?"

"Yeah...Well...The Captain doesn't know."

"Should have known." Chris said, getting up off the bunk. "Well, I can't let him go something so reckless by himself."

It didn't take him long to find Kira. He, along with Sai and Miri, had just reached Lacus's quarters.

"Taking Lacus back to the ZAFT Forces?" he asked.

"Yes." Kira replied. "Are going to try to stop us?"

"Yes and no."

"What?"

"I'll take Miss Clyne to the ZAFT Fleet." Chris explained. "You and the Strike are far more valuable to the Archangel."

"That's not true." Kira said.

"It is. The Strike is far more versatile than the Raven is. And you're a far better pilot than I am. If things go bad, it's better that you stay with the Archangel, to protect it."

"Alright."

* * *

Chris zipped up his flightsuit and grabbed his helmet. So far, everything had gone smoothly. Miss Clyne was in another room, putting on her own spacesuit. Miri and Liz were on look out while Sai and Kira were making sure that the path to the hanger was clear.

Chris stepped out into the hallway. "Any sign of trouble?"

Miri shook her head. "No. It's clear."

"Good."

The door opened, and Lacus, clad in a spacesuit, exited the room.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Dante." Lacus said.

"Alright then. Let's go."

"Let's go! Haro! Let's go!"

He was not going to miss that thing. Chris sighed. "Keep that thing quiet."

When they reached the hanger, Kira and Sai were there waiting from them.

"Okay, we'll get the hanger doors. You two get to the Raven." Kira said.

"Right. This way Miss Clyne."

The two quickly reached the Raven and climbed into it's cockpit. Chris started the mobile suit up and headed for the hanger door. The hanger crew instantly started freaking out. Trying to stop the rogue mobile suit.

The inner hanger door opened. The Raven entered the mobile suit catapult.

"This about to get little rough. Hold on."

The catapult activated, propelling the Raven into space. Chris immediately transformed the Raven into it's mobile armor mode and took off.

* * *

"The problem is that with Miss Clyne on board, we can't take any action." Rau said. "But at the same time, we can't allow them to reach the rest of Earth Alliance Forces."

"Not necessarily. We could ambush them and launch a commando raid on the legged ship and rescue Miss Clyne. We may even be able to capture the ship, all in one fell swoop." Kessel said, via the ship's main screen.

Rau considered Kessel's plan. If it succeed, even if they just rescued Miss Cylne, she and 11th Fleet would be the heroes and he would be the laughing stock of ZAFT. If they failed however, it work out for him and Patrick Zala, especially if Miss Clyne and Commander Kessel died just the raid.

Suddenly, alarm sirens went off. "Sir! Incoming mobile suit!"

"What?! Identity it!" Captain Ades ordered.

"It's the X305!"

"It's hailing us."

"Let's hear it." Rau ordered.

"ZAFT vessels, this is the pilot of the Raven. Do not fire. I have Miss Lacus Clyne on board." the young pilot said. "I am here to transfer her over to you. Send out only the Aegis and it's pilot and I will hand her over."

"Very well then." Rau replied. "We will send out the Aegis."

They cut the communication. "You heard him Athrun. Deploy the Aegis and recover Miss Clyne."

"Commander! Allow me to go in the Aegis instead." Zane said.

Rau was surprised by this. Zane had no interest in Miss Clyne. Meaning that his only reason for going out there would be to destroy the Raven. If that happened, Miss Clyne would undoubtedly be caught in the crossfire. And if something happened to her, with the 11th Fleet here, not even Patrick Zala could save him from punishment.

"No. He requested Athrun. And that's what we'll give him."

* * *

Zane watched as the Aegis take off from the Vesalius's hanger. His rage was evident to everyone. Now more than ever, he wanted to destroy the Raven.

"What is the status on the railgun?!"

"Well sir, we've mounted the unit onto your GINN and replaced the ammo clip racks with clip racks for the railgun. We've also adjusted the computer to railgun's weight and it's recoil. We're about to calibrate the weapon's aiming system right now" the mechanic replied.

"Leave it. I'll calibrate in the field." he said. "I'm launching."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. Have the ammo loaded and put it on the catapult." he said, kicking off the ground, floating to the cockpit of his GINN.

He was going to end this right here and now.

* * *

The Aegis approached the Raven. The two mobile suits stood face to face with each other. Both cockpit hatches opened up.

"Why did you ask for me?" Athrun asked.

"Because of that battle before Artemis Base. You had the chance to blow both Kira and I away, yet you didn't." Chris replied. "I figured that if anyone would let me escape without a fight, it'd be you."

Chris turned to Lacus. "Alright Miss Clyne, this is where we part ways." he said, giving her a push out the hatch.

"Good bye." Lacus said, waving as she floated to Athrun and the Aegis. Athrun caught her. Chris sat back down and was about to close the hatch, when Athrun called out, "Wait!"

"What?!"

"You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Then come with us. You and Kira both don't belong with the Earth Forces."

"No."

"But-"

"Behind me is the Archangel. I will not abandon her. Because everything I love is on board that ship."

"CHRIS!!!"

Suddenly, a high-velocity round tore past the side of the Raven. Missing the mobile suit by only a few feet.

It was the blood red GINN. It's rifle replaced with railgun. The weapon was mounted on it's right shoulder. But that wasn't what truly caught Chris off guard. It was the voice that shouted at him.

_Chris walked up to the battered boy laying on the ground. "You okay?" he asked, kneeling down._

"_Yeah..." the boy said. "You didn't have to help me."_

"_True. But it was three against one and wasn't about to let a bunch of spineless bullies beat up somebody." he replied, extending his hand. "Here."_

_The boy took his hand and Chris helped him get back up to his feet. The boy was in pretty rough shape. He had a number of bruises and cuts but nothing appeared to be broken. "C'mon, I'll take you to my parents. They're doctors." he said, helping the injured boy walk to his house. "My name's Chris, Chris Dante."_

"_I'm Zane Scirocco."_

"No...It can't be..." he whispered.

"It's been quite awhile, Chris." Zane said, aiming the GINN's railgun at the Raven.

Chris froze. "But how...Junius Seven was destroyed..."

"Isn't it obvious? Like you, I wasn't there." he replied. "Why did you betray your own kind?! Why are you fighting for those bastards?!"

Chris shook his head. This wasn't the Zane he knew. The Zane he knew was a pacifist, who hated violence in all it's forms. "What happened to you Zane? Once, you hated the idea of wars. So why are you in the cockpit of that GINN?"

"The Zane you knew, died alongside Junius Seven!" Zane shouted. "Now die traitor!!"

Railgun fired again. But the shot went wide. "Dammit!" Zane cursed as to properly calibrate the weapon. "You stupid weapon!"

Chris brought the Raven's own railguns to bare. But...He just couldn't bring himself to fire. Zane on the other hand, was more than able to fire again.

This time, the round hit it's target. Tearing through the left side of the Raven's head. Fortunately, it didn't destroy the Raven's head. Instead, it tore up the armor of left side of the head and damaged the camera in the left eye.

"Stop!" Lacus shouted. "Are you trying to start a battle in the presence of a War Memorial Representative?"

"Are you joking? Are you that stupid?!" Zane said. "This is war! There are no rules, but to wipe out your opponent! It doesn't stop because of some prissy, weak, pink haired brat wants it to!"

"That's enough Zane." Rau said over the comm. "You disobeyed my orders and engaged a mobile suit with a civilian practically standing right next to it. Return to the Vesalius."

"But sir-"

"Return. Or your punishment will be worse."

"Yes sir."

The GINN and the Aegis took off, heading back for the Vesalius. While the Raven left for the Archangel. Chris didn't say anything as the Raven entered the Archangel's hanger. He didn't say anything as armed guards pulled him from the cockpit. Nor did he say anything as they threw him in the brig.

His entire thoughts were on Zane. How could he become so consumed by anger and hatred? How could he just turn his back to everything he believed in?

Most of all, he wondered if he'd ever see the friend he once knew again.

* * *

That's all for now. Yay. One more chapter and the battles on Earth begin! Which is something I'm looking forward to. Though I am very pleased with this chapter. I really enjoyed the whole revelation on who Zane is. As to what Zane's railgun looks like, picture the gun of the Tallgeese I and II. That's pretty much what it looks like, expect a little larger. And those of you wondering why Rau is acting a little different than he did in the canon, it's because of the 11th Fleet. He knows that Kessel hates him and is watching him like a hawk. So being extra careful to avoid doing anything that she could use against him.


	10. Phase Nine: Stars Falling in Space

Yo everybody. Another chapter up for your enjoyment. This chapter is jammed together. I suppose I could have stretched this into two chapters, but I desperately finish up their time in space and move onto Earth.

Hellshadow: Thank you. Wait until the end of SEED and the beginning of Destiny. The things I have planned will definitely surprise you.

**Phase Nine: Stars Falling in Space**

Chris opened his eyes when he heard the sound of the doors to the brig open. "Hello Flay." he said.

The girl looked worse than before. Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her demeanor was that of someone who was utterly broken.

"How do you make it go away?" she quietly said.

"Make what go away?"

"The pain!! This wretched pain that won't stop eating away at me!!" Flay shouted as she grabbed the bars of the cell. "I just want it to stop!!!"

"It never truly goes away." Chris said. "All you can do is let it consume you or use it."

"Ignoring those feelings, will cause them to bottle up and destroy from the inside. As it nearly did to me. 'Dealing' with the feelings, isn't any better. They just bottle up slower. The only effective way to deal with the anger. The sorrow. The pain. Is to harness those feelings and use them for something other than vengeance. That is what I was taught after Junius Seven."

"How?"

"That's up to you." Chris replied. "I put mine into my guitar and my martial arts training. And now I use it to protect this ship as well. But that's just me. Just find something to dedicate your time and energy to."

"Could you...teach me?"

"What?"

"Teach me how to play the guitar. Teach me your martial arts skills. Teach me anything." Flay desperately said. "Anything to make me feel something besides this pain."

He stared at her for a moment. He sighed. "Alright. When I get out of here, I'll teach you some things. So long as you obey my instructions to the letter."

* * *

The Next Morning

"The defendant fails to understand how much his actions endangered the safety of the ship." Ensign Badgiruel said.

"Your Honor, the statement is a gross exaggeration. I ask that it be stricken from the record." Lieutenant La Flaga said.

"I authorize it's omission." Lieutenant Ramius said.

"Let's see..." Mu said, scanning the military law book in his hands. "First off, I believe that taking a civilian as a hostage goes against Article 4 of the Corsica Treaty."

"The actions taken come under Exception Section C of the same article." Badgiruel replied.

"Section C...Ah..." Mu said frantically flipping through the pages of the book. "Well...The ZAFT mobile suits did withdraw eventually and the warships didn't immediately purse us because of the release of the hostage."

"But the situation could have ended differently. And the Raven was damaged as a result of his reckless actions."

_'Damn. She makes it sound like I was out on a joyride.'_

Murrue looked up at the defendant. "Christopher Dante, is there anything you would like to say in your defense?"

"I accept full responsibility for my actions." Chris said. "I accept any punishment you have prepared. I simply ask that you spare Kira, Liz and the others. It was my idea and I forced them to go along with it. They shouldn't be punished for it."

"Christopher Dante, your actions were in violation of Article 3, Section B, in violation of Article 10, Section F and in violation of Article 13, Section 3 of military law. In accordance with military law, I have no choice but to sentence you to death."

Chris just stood there, dumbstruck. Death? Okay, that was the one thing he wasn't prepared for. He thought they'd lock him up for a while. Or give him some demeaning task like toilet cleaning. But execution? Wasn't that a bit much?

"However, this is purely a sentence for those under court martial." Murrue said. "Military law has no provisions on civilians. I call upon Christopher Dante to consider his actions more seriously from now on. Court is adjourned."

Chris breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow...I was scared there for a moment." he said. "Oh, and Lieutenant La Flaga. Remind me to never hire your services again for legal matters."

"Then don't go and disobey orders again." Mu said with a grin, tossing the law book away. "Cause I wouldn't defend you next time around."

Chris chuckled as he exited the room. Outside, Kira, Liz, Sai and Miri, were waiting for him. "Well?" Liz asked. "What'd they say?"

"They let me off with a warning."

"What?! Just a warning!" Liz shouted in disbelief. "They gave us all latrine duty."

"That sucks." he replied nonchalantly.

"Hey! Isn't this where you're suppose to say, 'I'm sorry. I'll help you guys out.'" Liz said.

"I think you have me confused with someone like Kira." Chirs said. "I'm not that selfless. You guys can scrub toilets. I'm not touching them."

Liz punched him. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You know what that was for! And next time, I'm getting a food tray!"

* * *

Later

Chris stepped onto the hanger. Crews were working on the Raven, repairing it's damaged head. He approached his aunt, who was overseeing the repairs.

"How's the repairs going?" Chris asked.

"We've repaired the internal damage and replaced the armor on the side of the head. Unfortunately, we don't exactly have a spare faceplate to replace the damaged one." Johanna said. "We're gonna ding out the scratches and put in a metal plate under the faceplate to protect the internal components. But that will weaken the strength of the head's armor as a whole."

"Got it."

"What happened out there?"

"It's something I alone must deal with."

"Well. Are you staying then?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Well, you're not the only one. I won't be leaving with the rest of the civilians. I'll be staying to finish observing and compiling the Strike's and the Raven's combat data before leaving for Orb and Morgenroete with the data."

* * *

The Gamow

"While it is possible to catch up with them. By the time we reach them, we'll have only ten minutes until we're within firing range of the Lunar Fleet." Nicol said.

"You mean we'll have a full ten minutes." Dearka said.

"I suggest that cowards keep their traps shut."

"Shut up Yzak." Saul said. "It's unlikely that the four of us could stand chance with the legged ship, the mobile suits and the Lunar Fleet. You know that."

"Is there only ten minutes or a full ten minutes? It's all in how you look at it." Yzak smugly said. "If we have a window of opportunity to strike, then we should take it."

"I agree. The success of a surprise attack isn't measured by the actual time spent." Dearka said.

"I know that. But-"

"I heard that the Vesalius and the 11th Fleet will be turning back as soon as they hand Miss Clyne over to the Laconi Team." Yzak said. "We'll take out the legged ship before then. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Very well."

"Fine." Saul said. "Let's be done with this whole thing."

* * *

The Archangel

"Okay Flay. I'm gonna teach how to fight." Chris said. "Now, this is to be used only for defense. Of either yourself or someone else. Not to beat people up or try to get vengeance on someone. If I've found out that you've been doing that, I won't teach anymore.

Chris grabbed a bag sitting on his bed. "Put this on." he said, handing her the bag.

"But this is a boy's uniform?"

"Yeah." he replied as he headed out of the room, to allow her to change. "All the women's uniforms have skirts. And those aren't practical for what we're going to do."

A few minutes later, Flay had changed and they began. Chris started off by teaching her some basic exercises. She was okay at it. He had seen people better at it. And he seen people worse at it. But she was determined. He'd give her that.

Suddenly, alarms went off. "All hands! Report to level one battlestations! Repeat..."

"That's it for today." Chris said. "You can practice the exercises on our own or you can wait until the next time we can do this."

* * *

The Moebius Zero, the Raven and the Strike, equipped with the Alie Striker, launched one by one from the Archangel. The Duel, the Blitz, the Surge and the Buster flew in tight formation towards the Archangel. Suddenly, they broke apart and a pair of beams from one of the Gamow's cannons, streaked past them. One beam missed while the other grazed the Archangel.

Mu activated his gunbarrels, firing on the Buster. But with it's phase shift armor, the bullets barely did anything to it. Dearka fired back with it's gun launcher and rifle. While the Surge headed for the the Raven. Saul fired his Hakenfaust claw at the Raven. Chris brought the Raven's shield up, blocking the claw. The Raven's left hand grabbed the claw's cable and pulled. Saul was caught off guard by this and the Surge was pulled to the Raven. When the Surge reach the Raven, Chris drove it's knee into the Surge's chest.

"Nicol, we'll handle the mobile suits. You get the legged ship." Yzak said, heading for the Strike.

"Roger."

The Blitz headed for the Archangel while the Strike and the Duel battled. The two mobile suits fought furiously, first blasting at each with their beam rifles. Then switching to their beam sabers when neither could gain the upper hand with their rifles.

The Blitz expertly dodged the fire from the Archangel's point defenses. Nicol landed next to the bridge tower, where the ship's point defenses couldn't reach him. He fired repeatedly on the ship, trying to wear down and pierce the Laminated armor of it's hull.

"Kira! Chirs! Where are you?! We're under attack from the Blitz!" Miriallia shouted over the comm.

"Dammit." Chris cursed as he ducked under a sword strike from the Surge. "Kira! I can't get to them! You-"

The Surge kicked the Raven, interrupting him.

Kira turned to the Archangel. They were counting on him to protect. He wasn't going to fail them again. In the back of his mind, a purple seed shattered. He took off, heading for the Archangel.

"You coward! You're not getting away from me!" Yzak shouted as he pulled out his beam rifle and fired.

The Strike effortlessly dodged the beams, surprising Yzak. A moment later, Kira reached the Blitz, swing his beam saber down on the mobile suits. Nicol barely avoided the attack, only to have the Strike's knee driven in the Blitz, knocking him back. At this moment, Yzak tried to attack the Strike from behind. But Kira was faster. He dropped his beam saber and drew one of his combat knives, stabbing in the left side of the Duel's waist. There was a power surge in the Duel's cockpit, causing the main screen to explode.

"AAAAARGH!!" Yzak screamed as shrapnel flew into his face.

"Yzak!" Nicol shouted as the Blitz moved alongside the Duel. "Are you alright?"

Yzak howled in pain. "It burns! It burns!!!"

"Saul! Dearka! Yzak's hurt! We have to retreat, before the enemy fleet can fire on us!" Nicol shouted to his teammates.

"Damn. Withdrawing." Dearka replied.

"What is with that ship and those mobile suits?" Saul said as he fled with his comrades. "No matter what we bring against them, they beat us back every time and escape."

"That was amazing Kira." Chris said, coming along the Archangel.

"No. That was beyond amazing." Mu said. "That was incredible."

* * *

The Archangel Hanger

A Few Hours Later

"We've joined up with the Fleet. So why are we in such a hurry to get this fixed up?" Kira said, his head sticking out of the cockpit of the Moebius Zero.

"Because I don't feel secure with it damaged." Mu replied.

"And the pilots of the 8th Fleet are all wet behind the ear." Murdoch added. "If we come under attack, the Lieutenant will have to sortie."

"But what about the Strike and the Raven?" Kira asked. "Should we leave them as is?"

"Well...If we change it back, it will dramatically lower abilities of the machines."

"Actually, it doesn't matter for the Raven." Chris said as he floated up. "I'm staying."

"What?" a shocked Kira asked. "You're staying?"

"Yeah. There's something I need to do. And I can't do it unless I stay. But like I said before, you don't have to do what I do, Kira. Make up our own mind."

"Then I guess I won't have to convince you." Ramius said, floating to the group. "Sorry to interrupt. But I just wanted to talk with Kira."

"Huh?" Kira said, staring at her.

"Don't give me that suspicious look. Though I can't really blame you." Murrue said. "Come. Let's get out of their hair and talk, Kira."

The two floated away, towards the Strike.

"Well...I suppose I should tell Liz and the others that I'm staying."

"What?!!" Liz shouted. "You're staying?!!"

Flay, Sai, Tolle, Kuzzey and Miri all had similar expressions.

"Yes. Could you tone it down?"

"I'm staying too then." Liz said.

"No. You are not." Chris bluntly said. "You're getting back on that shuttle and going back to Orb."

"No! I'm staying. I'm not letting you do something stupid by yourself." Liz argued.

Everyone else watched as the two siblings argued. Save for Flay. She was deep in thought. She needed Chris. To help her deal with her pain. She honestly didn't believe that she could deal with it on her own at the moment. She was going to stay. She _needed_ to stay.

* * *

Aboard the Vesalius

"The legged ship is now with Admiral Halberton's 8th Fleet." Rau said. "Based on their position, we can safely believe that they are going to send the legged ship to Earth. But we should try one last time before leave our backyard."

"We can be assure that they'll protect the legged ship with everything they have. Even with their very lives." Diana Kessel said.

"But remember, the 8th Fleet isn't our target." Rau said. "It's the legged ship and it's mobile suits."

"I want all GINNs equipped with ballutes for this one." Diana said.

"But that will slow us down." Zane said.

"This is an orbital battle, boy." Diana coldly said. "Anyone in a GINN that gets caught in the Earth's gravity, won't survive reentry. It's a standard safety procedure."

"I agree. While the new machines can survive reentry, the GINNs cannot." Rau said. "All GINNs are to equipped with ballutes."

AN: Ballutes are actually from Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta. They're basically a balloon/parachute device that when activated, slow down a mobile suit's descent, allowing it to safely enter the atmosphere. I figure that ZAFT would likely have something similar for battles close to the atmosphere.

* * *

The Archangel

"Discharge papers?" Sai said.

"Yes. In order to avoid any legal complications, you've all been declared as soldiers of the Earth Alliance." Captain Hoffman explain. "Signing these papers will allow to leave the Archangel with the civilians."

"I don't need this. I'm staying." Liz said, handing her papers back.

Hoffman nodded. "Very well then."

"Excuse me." Flay said, raising her hand.

"You were not involved in any combat. Therefore, you don't need discharge papers."

"That's not it." Flay paused, searching for strength to say the next part. "I would like to join the Earth Alliance Military."

"Flay?" a surprised Sai said.

"You realize what you're saying." Ensign Badgiruel said.

"Look. I'm not saying this for the fun of it. I've been thinking about since my father was killed." Flay said. "After that happened, all I could think about was how I couldn't bare it. And I realized that this has been happening since the war started."

A fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks at the memory of her father. "If I join the fight, that means that I can at least try to help bring an end to this war. Even if my abilities are of little use to the military, I'll still do whatever I can to bring an end to this war."

"Very well then." Badgiruel said. "Come with me."

The two left. Sai looked at the paper in his hands. He tore it in two. "What Flay expressed was my sentiments as well. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I left her here by herself."

"They said the Archangel was short-staffed. I'd feel bad if it got shot down somewhere down the road." Tolle said, tearing his own papers.

Miriallia then tore her own papers in two.

"Miri?"

"If you're staying, than so am I." she replied.

"If you're all gonna stay, than so am I." Kuzzey said, shredding his own papers.

* * *

Elsewhere

"Well, Kira. I guess this where we part ways." Chris said as they approached the line up for the shuttle. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah." Kira said. "You take care too."

Suddenly, a little girl floated up to the two boys. The girl reached into her little bag.

"Thank you for protecting us." the little girl said, handing them both little paper flowers.

"Thanks." Chris said, taking the flower and patting the girl on the head.

"Hey Kira!" Tolle shouted as he, Sai, Kuzzey, Miri and Liz approached the pair.

"Hey. I've been looking all over for you guys. Why-"

"Here." Tolle said, handing him a piece of paper. "You can't leave without your discharge papers."

"You're going alone. We've all decided to stay." Tolle said.

Chris sighed. "I see you didn't listen to me, Liz. Again."

"Yes." his sister replied "If you're staying, I'm staying. And I'm not the only one. We're all staying. Even Flay decided to stay."

"What? That's a surprise." Chris said. "I figured that she would have left we everyone else."

"All hands. Report to level one battlestations. I repeat..."

"They're playing my song again. Well, good luck Kira." Chris said before leaving.

"Yeah. Good luck Kira." Tolle said, patting Kira's back. "You better not do something stupid without us there to watch your back."

"Good bye Kira." Miri and Kuzzey said.

"Bye Kira. Don't worry. I'll make sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid." Liz said.

"Good bye Kira." Sai said. "Take care of yourself."

"Well, we better get to our battlestations." Tolle said. "And you have a shuttle to catch."

Kira watched his friend leave the hanger. He stared at his discharge papers. Then he turned to the paper flower. Torn between what he should do. Images of his past battles filled his mind. The destruction of Heliopolis. His battles against the stolen Gundams, alongside Chris and Lieutenant La Flaga. His failure to protect the Montgomery and Flay's father. Finally, the little girl that had give this paper flower.

"Are you coming kid?"

"Please. Go on without me." Kira said, tossing the discharge papers as he left the hanger.

* * *

The stolen Gundams, a crimson GINN and the mobile suits of the 11th Fleet launched, heading for the Earth Forces 8th Fleet. "Hey Yzak, are you sure that you're able to pilot the Duel in your condition?" Saul asked.

"Just shut up and stay out of my way!" Yzak shouted from the Duel, now equipped with an armor shroud. "I'm gonna take down the Strike once and for all!"

The Earth Forces deployed all of their mobile armors and their warships opened fire. But they were no match for the technologically superior ZAFT Forces, and one by one, the Earth Force's mobile armors were destroyed and their warships were either destroyed or crippled. However, those crippled ships that were fleeing the battlefield were quickly shot down by the Vesalius.

"Firing on retreating forces." Diana said in disgust at Creuset's tactics. "What a cowardly and dishonorable man."

"What'd ya expected from the masked snake himself?" Ajay said, gunning down a mobile armor.

Elsewhere, the Creuset Team were pushing further and further into the 8th Fleet, searching for the Archangel and it's mobile suits. "Where is it?!" Zane said in frustration as he fired at a mobile armor, destroying it. "Where is that damned Raven?!"

* * *

Chris zipped up his flightsuit as Kira entered the room. "Kira? What are you doing here?"

"I've decided to stay."

"Happy to hear that. I was little worried that I was gonna have to pilot the Strike." Chris said. "It's a good machine, but it's not my machine."

Kira quickly put on his flightsuit and the two took off for the hanger. When they reached the hanger, they found Mu arguing with the Captain over a comm line. "But Captain, their target is this ship. If the kid and I deploy, we'll be able to draw some of the enemy mobile suits from the Fleet."

"Our ship wasn't been singled to join the battle. Please remain on standby." Captain Ramius said.

Mu swore and punched the wall. "Why isn't the Captain letting us launch? We're under attack, aren't we?"

"Yeah. She's worried about getting a sudden order from Admiral Halberton and the two of being too far to lend a hand." Mu said, turning around.

"Hey. What are you doing here kid?" Mu asked Kira.

"I've decided to stay." Kira replied.

"Alright. Well that's good to hear." Mu said. "Well, you heard the Captain. Let's get to our machines."

* * *

The 8th Fleet was putting up a valiant fight. But their pilots were just too green and their mobile armors were just too outclassed to stand a chance against ZAFT's elite 11th Fleet. A trio of black and purple GINNs raced through the Earth Forces ships, explosions followed them. Basque Gideon fired on a pair of Drake-class battleships with his shin mounted missiles and Barrus cannon. Missiles and beams struck the warships, destroying the first and heavily damaging the second. A trio of Moebius mobile armors fired on the Tyr from behind.

"I don't think so, pals!" Ajay said, ambushing the trio.

He gunned down the first two and slicing the third in two with one of his combat knives.

Lucius turned to Ajay, aimed and fired. Two mobile armors exploded behind Ajay's GINN.

"Even without the dreaded Black Hawk, the 11th Fleet is still devastating." Admiral Halberton said as more casualties were reported in.

"Sir. Incoming communication from the Archangel."

"Put them through." he said.

"Admiral, I would like permission to begin the Archangel's descent to Earth." Murrue Ramius said. "The Archangel is their target. If we withdraw, we might be able to save the Fleet."

"Go. You have permission. We'll cover you for as long as we can." Halberton replied, before cutting the line.

"Sir! A Nazca-class and a Laurasia-class, as well as the Buster, the Duel, the Aegis, the Blitz, the Surge and a GINN, are heading for the Archangel."

"Bring us between them and the Archangel." Halberton ordered. "We cannot allow the Archangel to be destroy. No matter the cost."

* * *

The Archangel started it's descent into the atmosphere. But they weren't alone. The Duel, the Buster and the red GINN flew past the Menelaos and the other nearby Earth Forces warships. Their target. The Archangel.

"Captain, please let us launch. We can fight till the last second before returning." Mu said from the cockpit of his Moebius Zero.

"According to the specs, both the Strike and the Raven can enter the atmosphere on their own." Kira added.

"Besides, if we launch now, we may be able to draw some of the fire from the 8th Fleet." Chris said.

"Very well. You may go." Ramius said. "But be careful."

The Raven launched first, followed by the Strike and then the Moebius Zero. "Damn." Chris said as Earth's gravity pulled on the Raven. "This is definitely a stupid thing to do."

"You won't get any arguments from me." Mu said as the trio pushed their thrusters to the max, heading for the ZAFT attackers. "This is the first time I've ever done this."

"At last! The Strike!" Yzak said with a smirk, drawing a beam saber. "Time for some payback."

The two mobile suits clashed as Dearka fired on the Moebius Zero. Mu dodged the shot and deployed his gunbarrels, firing on the Buster.

"This time there's no pink haired brat to save you." Zane said as he fired at the Raven.

"How did you become like this Zane?" Chris said, dodging the round. "You were never had an ounce of hatred in your body."

"As I told you. That was then, this is now." Zane said, firing again and again. "But the time for talk is over."

Chris continued to dodge. He couldn't bring himself to fire on his friend. Even when he was in this state.

* * *

The Gamow pulled ahead of the Vesalius, heading for the Archangel.

"They're making a suicide attack!" Captain Hoffman said.

"Focus all fire on the Laurasia-class. And deploy the civilian shuttle." Halberton ordered. "We've come too far to allow that ship to be destroyed."

The Menelaos brought itself alongside the Gamow as the civilian shuttle was launched. The warships furiously fought their final battle. In the end, both ship exploded. Captain Ramius, Ensign Badgiruel and Commander Kessel all saluted the heroic sacrifice of their comrades.

Kira and Yzak were still locked in their fierce battle. Even as Earth's gravity pulled them down. Elsewhere, the duel between Chris and Zane intensified. Neither could gain the upper hand. Suddenly, the civilian shuttle appeared between the two.

"What? Cowards fleeing the battlefield? Well then, DIE!" Zane said, taking aim at the shuttle.

"NO! Don't! That's a civilian shuttle!" Chris shouted. "There's only innocent civilians on board!"

"Innocent?! There is no such thing as innocence amongst the human race!" Zane shouted back. "It's time you learned that!"

Zane fired his railgun. The round tore through the shuttle, like a knife through paper. The shuttle exploded, kill all on board. "NOOOOOO!!!" Chris screamed as somewhere in the back of his mind, a grayish-green seed shattered.

"No..." Kira whispered.

"Firing on a civilian shuttle. What a monster." Yzak said in disgust.

The two mobile suits started to shake. The gravity was starting to become too great. "Dammit. I can't stick around here any longer."

The Duel took off, trying to escape the planet's gravity alongside the Buster while Kira headed for the Archangel.

"ZANE!!!" Chris roared as he fired his railguns at Zane's GINN.

Zane laughed as sidestepped and fired back. The Raven effortlessly dodged the rounds and it's left hand drew a beam saber. The GINN's railgun ran out of ammo. "Dammit." Zane cursed as tried to reload.

Chris, seeing the opening, struck with his beam saber. Zane hit his thrusters, trying to dodge. But he wasn't fast enough. The saber sliced off the GINN's legs at the knees.

Zane swore. "I'm not done yet!"

Zane aimed his reloaded railgun at the Raven. At this range, Chris wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

_Warning. Terminal velocity reached. Ballute system activating._

The GINN's ballute deployed. Dramatically slowing down the machine and sending it upwards.

"Gah! Dammit! Stupid ballute! Not now!" Zane cursed.

He was vulnerable now. One shot and his ballute would be destroyed, leaving him to burn up in the atmosphere.

However, Chris wasn't in any position to attack. The g-forces and heat from reentry were growing too great for him. Chris quickly extended the Raven's wings, slowing down his descent. But it wasn't enough and he passed out.

"Chris! We have to get back to the ship!" Kira shouted. "Chris?! Can you hear me?!"

There was no response. Kira swore and headed towards the Raven. He reached out and grabbed the Raven. He put his shield in front of them, trying to further slow down their descent. He tried to move back to the Archangel. But the Strike's thrusters weren't strong enough.

"Bring us to the same trajectory as the Strike and the Raven." Murrue ordered.

"Captain?"

"This will all be meaningless if we reach Alaska without the Strike and the Raven."

The Archangel's thrusters pushed it towards the two mobile suits. As soon as the Archangel was underneath them, Kira landed the two machines on the hull of the vessel. He then passed out as well.

* * *

Yay! Finally! They're on Earth! Finally, the real fun can begin. Of course, any fans of Gundam Seed Purpose by SOLDIER-MS, which is a great story that I recommend, will know who's appearing in the next chapter.

One final thing. I don't want to come off as a whiner, but the last chapter generated a number of hits, favorites and alerts, yet I only one review. I like to hear from my fans. And I feel that it's polite that if you put a story in favorites, you should take a few minutes to submit a review. Thank you and please review!


	11. Phase Ten: Burning Clouds of Sand

aquacchi: Thanks. As I've said before, I didn't like Flay in the first half of SEED, but after Kira 'died', and she became less crazy, I grew to like her. And when she died, I felt little sad. As I said before, the Flay in this story will be different and will survive.

Bloodyknight85: Okay first off, Chris knows how to fight, you know martial arts, not the art of war. Secondly, Flay just wanted to learn something to deal with the pain and sorrow of her father's death. As to who will be affected more by th shuttle's destruction, it will be about equal between the two of them. It's just that Chris will also be affected by the fact that his best friend shot the shuttle down in cold blood.

**Phase Ten: Burning Clouds of Sand**

"_So why were you picking a fight with those punks?" Chris asked._

"_Actually, I wasn't trying to pick a fight them." Zane said. "I detest violence."_

"_Well, then you probably should have kept your mouth shut."_

"_No. I won't back down from my beliefs." Zane said. "Coordinators. Naturals. We're all people. Flawed, but decent people. This petty hatred Coordinators and Naturals must end."_

"_Then you should learn to fight. So you can defend yourself."_

"_I told you, I detest violence. Even if it's to defend myself."_

"_You really believe that, don't you?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Well then. I tell you what, as you keep on saying that and won't defend yourself. Then those that want to beat you up of that, will have to get through me first."_

* * *

Chris groaned and shifted slightly on the bed. He was lying unconscious on a bed in the Medical Bay, an IV in his arm and swear soaking his body. Flay pressed a wet cloth against his forehead, trying to bring down his fever. Lying across from him was Kira, who was in the same state.

"How are they, doc?" Liz asked, eying her brother in concern.

"Despite the fever, neither has any signs of infection or internal injuries. Right now, all we can do is give them plenty of fluids and try to lower their body temperature." the doctor replied.

"That's it?" Sai asked.

"Well, this is the first time I've given medical treatment to a Coordinator. And I'm not claiming to be an expert when it comes to diagnosing their symptoms. But I do know that the capabilities of their bodies are far greater than ours. So I wouldn't worry too much about them." Doctor Hunnicutt said.

"But-"

"They may look us, but their internal abilities are completely different from the rest of us. Expect for you, of course, Miss Dante." Hunnicutt said. "Their bodies are capable of greater strength. Their minds are capable acquiring more knowledge than the rest of us can. No fatal illness will develop with that immune system."

The door opened and Lieutenant La Flaga entered the room. "Hey Doc. What's doing on?"

"I was just explaining to them to them that Mr. Yamato and Mr. Dante are going to fine." the doctor replied.

"That's good to hear." Mu said. "They both took tremendous pounding out there."

"Hey, that reminds me. Liz?" Mirallia said.

"Yeah?"

"The last thing I heard from Chris was a name he shouted. Does he know anyone named Zane?"

Liz's eyes went wide with shock. "Wh...What did you say?"

"He said the name Zane."

"That's impossible." Liz said. "Zane was his best friend at Junius Seven. But he's dead. Killed in the Bloody Valentine."

"But couldn't he have survived like you too did and become a ZAFT pilot?" Sai asked.

Liz shook. "No. He was a total pacifist. He hated it when Chris fought to protect him from bullies. Zane would never step into a mobile suit. No matter the situation."

* * *

Aboard the Vesalius

Athrun stood in pilot lounge, staring out at mobile suit hanger. His thoughts were entirely on Kira. He was torn. He and Kira were best friends. But now. By some cruel twist of fate, they were now enemies.

"There you are." Saul said as he and Nicol entered the room. "We've been looking all over for you."

Athrun turned to his two teammates.

"Yzak and Dearka landed safely on Earth." Nicol said.

"So did that lunatic Scirocco." Saul added.

"They're at the Gibraltar Base. But we don't know when their suppose to return."

"Is Yzak's wound still bothering him?" Athrun asked.

"I doubt it. A guy as stubborn as Yzak would keep on fighting no matter how bad the wound." Saul said. "Hell, he's probably right now demanding to get resupplied and sent out to hunt down the legged ship."

Athrun chuckled. "Yeah. That sounds like Yzak." he said. "So what's our orders now?"

Saul shrugged. "We're heading back to the PLANTs. Something about some new operation. I really don't know. But I do know that we're gonna some sweet R and R." Saul said with a grin.

* * *

Hours Later

Chris slowly opened his eyes. His blurred vision slowly came into focus. There was something in front of his head...

"Birdie."

"GAAAAAH!!" Chris screamed, startling Birdie, causing it to fly from his forehead. "KIRA!"

Birdie landed on Kira's shoulder, who was sitting up right on his bed and laughing. "Why does that thing like to sit on my head?!"

"Oh come on, Birdie is just trying to be friendly." Kira said.

"No. It's trying to make a nest on my head."

Kira laughed some more. "It's just a robot. Birdie doesn't even know how to make a nest."

"Well, if I wake up one morning with twigs in my hair, I'm dismantling that thing."

The door opened and Flay entered the room, carrying a food tray and several glasses of water. "Chris. You're awake." she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I went through a grinder and then an oven." Chris said. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Kira asked.

"_NO! Don't! That's a civilian shuttle!" Chris shouted. "There's only innocent civilians on board!"_

"_Innocent?! There is no such thing as innocence amongst the human race!" Zane shouted back. "It's time you learned that!"_

_Zane fired his railgun. The round tore through the shuttle, like a knife through paper. The shuttle exploded, killing all on board. "NOOOOOO!!!" Chris screamed._

"The shuttle being destroyed." Chris bitterly said. "Fighting Z-the GINN. And that's about it."

"Well, the GINN activated it's ballute and escaped when the gravity was getting too much." Kira explained. "Then you passed out. I tried to pull you back to the Archangel but the Strike's thrusters weren't enough. Then the Archangel pulled itself under us and landed us on the ship. Then I passed out as well."

"Well, I owe you one, Kira."

"Don't mention it."

"No. I always payback my debts."

Chris let out a hoarse cough. His throat was bone dry. It felt like he hadn't had a drink in weeks.

"Here. Have some water." Flay said, handing him a glass.

Chris sat up and downed the water in a single gulp. "Thanks."

Flay handed Kira his food tray. "I'll go get you some food and some more water." Flay said, heading for the exit.

Chris sighed. "Kira, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"That red GINN that destroyed the shuttle was piloted by my best friend."

"What?"

"A year ago, he was a total pacifist. He hated violence in all it's forms. Even when I defended him from guys that wanted to beat him up, he hated it. He also believed that no Coordinator was better than a Natural and vice versa. But now...He's become a monster."

"I'm sorry." Kira said.

"I'm sorry to lay this all on you. I know you have your own thing to deal with. The pilot of the Aegis is your friend."

"You know about Athrun?"

"I know that the two of you were friends from before the war started. And that's about it."

"It's true. Athrun and I went to the same Lunar prep school. We both left before the war started. Athrun returned to the PLANTs, I went to Heliopolis."

"You know something. This whole war is messed up. A boy that hated violence becomes a cold-blooded monster. Two pairs of friends end up fighting on opposing sides. And for what?! A pointless war that's brought pain and misery to everyone." Chris sighed and shook his head. "This whole thing is FUBAR."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm go to stop him...one way or another." Chris said bitterly. "All I ask that you to avoid fighting that red GINN if we ever encounter them again. Unless you have no other choice. I'll do the same with the Aegis."

* * *

Later That Night

"So this is the new warship of the Earth Alliance." a black haired man said, looking through binoculars with a mug of coffee in his hand. "What do they call it again?"

"The Archangel." a blond haired girl replied.

The man chuckled. "That's funny considering the ship has been more like an Angel of Doom for the Earth Forces. Heliopolis. Artemis Base. Admiral Halberton and the 8th Fleet. All lost after coming into contact with that ship, while the ship itself escapes." he said. "Of course, the fact that it has survived all those encounters, is testament to it's crew, it's mobile suits and the very ship itself. They're just what we need to push Waltfeld out the area."

Sahib Ashman, the leader of the rebels, nodded. "How do you know they'll be willing to aid us, Victor?"

Victor took a sip of his coffee. "Mmm...Delicious. A prefect blend of French Roast with a dash of cinnamon, powdered chocolate and nutmeg." Victor said, savoring the flavor of his coffee.

"Victor!" Sahib said in annoyance, knocking the man out of his coffee trance.

"Hmm...Oh right." Victor said, clearing his throat. "Because they're just as desperate as us. They're in the middle of enemy territory. They have no clue as to the recent events here on Earth. And they're in the Tiger's backyard. They have no choice but to seek our aid."

"Chief!" a rebel shouted. "We just received word. The Tiger's left the Lesseps with five BuCUEs. He's heading for that ship."

"Should we help them out?" another rebel asked.

"No. Not quite yet." Victor answered. "We need to their strength with our own eyes first. And if they fall here, then they weren't strong enough to help us defeat the Tiger anyway."

* * *

"Ma'am! I'm detecting laser designators! We're being targeted!"

"Take us to level one battlestations!" Badgiruel said.

* * *

Chris and Kira quickly climbed into their mobile suits. Lieutenant La Flaga was waiting as Murdoch, Johanna and the hanger crews raced to get one of the three Sky Graspers the 8th Fleet had given them, up and running.

"Come on. Why haven't we been given the order to launch?!" Kira said.

"We don't yet know the full strength of the enemy. Nor are the mobile suits designed for this type of terrain." Badgiruel said.

"The Raven's mobile armor won't be affected by the desert terrain. I can launch and deal with the enemy. And things get too hairy, Kira can launch and back me up." Chris said.

"Very well." Murrue said. "Launch the Raven."

The Raven was quickly loaded onto the catapult. "Raven Gundam launching." Chris said before the catapult activated, launching the mobile suit into the air.

Chris immediately transformed the Raven into it's mobile armor mode. He flew towards the helicopter, firing his machineguns at them. He shot down one while the other two fled. "You attack us and think that you just get away. I don't think so."

"They've deployed the Raven." Martin said.

"As expected." Andrew said. "Spring the trap. Let's see how well it fights when it's grounded."

Suddenly, from behind a sand dune, a pair of BuCUEs equipped with missile launchers, fired a barrage of missiles at the Raven. "Dammit." Chris swore as he dodged most of the missiles.

But some hit their target, sending the Raven crashing into the ground. Chris transformed it back to it's mobile suit mode. However, Chris found the feet of his machine sinking into the ground.

"Dammit. This sand's too loose. I can't get a decent footing. I need to get back into the air."

Chris activated the Raven's thrusters, launching the mobile suit into air. Only to have another barrage hit him, sending the machine back to the ground. The two BuCUEs emerged from their hiding place, circling the Raven. The first one lunged at him. But Chris used his thrusters to leap out of the way. However, the second BuCUE anticipated this and slammed into the moment he land. "Gah...Archangel, launch the Strike. I need some cover fire, so I can get back in the air."

"Roger. Launching the Strike now." Miriallia said.

"Tell Kira to watch out. Moving in this sand is a pain in the ass."

The Strike armed with the Launcher Striker, was launched from the Archangel. It landed on a dune overlooking the Raven and the BuCUEs. The second the Strike's feet touched the sand, it sank. "Whoa..."

"I told you the sand was nightmare."

The helicopters returned, firing on the Strike. The missiles slammed into the Strike.

"They've deployed X-105." Martin said.

"Deploy the remaining BuCUEs. I want to see it's capabilities." Andrew said.

Three more BuCUEs emerged, two with railguns and one with a missile pod, firing on the Strike. The impacts of the weapons forced the Strike down the dune, towards the Raven. Kira fired back with the Agni cannon. But the BuCUEs were too fast for him.

"Those machines may be strong in space, but here on Earth BuCUEs rule!" a BuCUE pilot shouted.

Meanwhile, Chris wasn't having much luck either. The two BuCUEs hounding him were too fast for him to hit them either. "Dammit." Chris cursed as a BuCUE dodged the rounds from his railgun. "Kira, if you got any ideas, now would be the time."

"Cover me for moment." Kira said, as he pulled out the keyboard and started typing.

The Raven leapt into the air, landing besides the Strike. Chris fired on BuCUEs, not trying to hit them, but trying to keep them on the move and not firing at them. A barrage of missiles streaked towards the two. Chris fired his railgun at the missiles. The rounds hit some of the missiles, setting them off. The explosions took out the rest.

Suddenly, the Strike got up, now standing on top of the sand, and fired, taking out a BuCUE's missile pod. Another BuCUE tried to tackle the Strike. The Strike spun and slammed it's cannon into the BuCUE, sending it flying. The first BuCUE tried to tackle the Strike from behind. But Kira was faster, driving the Strike's elbow into it, knocking it onto it's back. Kira fired the Agni, destroying it.

Chris suddenly realized what Kira had done. He had adjusted the OS to the desert terrain. "Why didn't I think of that?" he said to himself. "Kira, you cover me while I adjust my OS."

"Right."

Chris pulled out the keyboard and started adjusting the OS. He wasn't as fast as Kira, but he still managed to adjust it pretty quickly. "I'm good." he said, the Raven taking it's first solid step on the sand. "Let's see how you like me now."

A barrage of missiles flew towards the Raven. The Raven leapt up, avoiding the missiles and transformed into it's mobile armor mode. "The BuCUEs may rule on Earth, but the Raven rules the skies!" Chris shouted as the Raven's Ahura Mazda energy weapons activated.

The BuCUE was fast, the Raven was faster. The energy 'claws' across the BuCUE's back. A moment later, it exploded.

Though they had finally countered the BuCUEs, both machines had used up a great deal of battery power and Chris had used up much of the Raven's railgun ammo. And there were three BuCUEs and two copters left.

* * *

"The proper timing and application of force is the true way to win a battle, Waltfeld. Even a pinprick can be fatal if aimed correctly."

* * *

Suddenly, a trio of shots rang out. Two copters and a railgun barrel of a BuCUE exploded. A gray GINN High Maneuver type, covered in a tan tarp, armed with a sniper rifle, was laying on a sand dune a fair distance away. The GINN rose to it's feet, it's crimson monoeye scanning across the battlefield.

"Amazing. To be able to hit three separate targets so quickly and from that far away. That's one amazing sniper." Martin DeCosta said.

"Yes. That's the best sniper I've seen since...Well, in quite a while." Waltfeld said to his subordinate.

Suddenly, a band of rebel vehicles emerged from several sand dunes, firing missiles at the BuCUEs. Their weapons were inferior to the weapons of the BuCUEs. But they were major distraction to the mobile suits.

One jeep parked next to the Strike and fired a cable to the Strike's leg. "Pilot of the Earth Forces mobile suits, if you want to live, follow my instructions." a voice said over the comm. "We've set a trap at this location. Lure the BuCUEs there."

Seeing no other option, Kira and Chris headed for the location, with the rebel jeeps close behind. The location in question was near the GINN. The BuCUEs chased after the 'fleeing' forces. The Strike and the BuCUEs reached the spot. The Raven swooped down and grabbed the Strike with it's claws and flew off.

And with that, the trap was sprung. A massive explosion consumed the BuCUEs in an instant.

"We're withdrawing." Andrew said. "We've achieved our immediate goal."

* * *

A Short While Later

The warriors of Desert Dawn were now gathered in front of the Archangel, the Strike and the Raven. Kira and Chris remained in their machines, just in case. The GINN's pilot had left his cockpit and was with the rest of his comrades. Captain

"I would like to extend my gratitude to you for your help." Murrue said.

"I am Sahib Ashman. The leader of the Desert Dawn." Sahib said. "There is no need to thank us. Our reasons for fighting were not necessarily to save you. They happened to be our enemy as well."

"You guys against the Desert Fox?" Mu said.

"I recognize your face. But I cannot say where."

"That's Mu La Flaga. The Hawk of Endymion." a man in a dark trenchcoat, with short black hair and gray eyes, said.

The man extended his hand to Mu. "Victor Cain. Formerly of ZAFT's 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. Now a merc working for the Desert Dawn."

Mu shook the man's hand. "One of Alaric's guys, eh? I thought I recognized that type of GINN." Mu said.

"Aye. Until he was killed. Though I respect Miss Kessel, the Black Hawk is and always will be my true commander." Victor explained. "When he was killed, I took my GINN and left. Been fighting as a mercenary ever since."

"You strike me as well informed people. Do you know who we are?"

"You are the crew of the Archangel, the Earth Forces new warship. You came to Earth to escape Le Creuset's Team. Those machines of your's are..."

"X-105 Strike and X-305 Raven." the blond girl said.

"So here we are. You know who we are and we know who you are." "Though I am surprised that you are here. I assume that you landing was an accident. So I'm curious to know what you plan to do next."

"Can we count on your complete cooperation?"

"If you're serious about talking, then you such lower your weapons."

"They should disarm as well."

"Very well." Murrue said. "Ensign Yamato, Ensign Dante, come down here."

The two exited their mobile suits and headed for the group. Kira took off his helmet first. Surprising the Desert Dawn members that someone so young could be the pilot of such a powerful mobile suit. The girl suddenly took off, heading for Kira. "So it is you." the girl said, clearly angry. "What is someone like you, doing in that thing?"

She tried to punch him, but Kira caught her fist. "Let go of me!" she shouted, trying to break free of his grip.

She broke free of his grip, hitting Kira in the process. "Whoa. Calm down." Chris said, approaching the two, taking off his helmet. "Hey, wait a minute. You're that tomboy we thought was a girl."

"You too!" the girl said, turning to him.

Her fist slammed into his jaw.

"Ow...Damn. You hit as hard as my sister." Chris said, rubbing his jaw.

* * *

Desert Dawn Main Base

A Few Hours Later

"This is our frontline base. Our homes are in the towns. If they haven't been burned to the ground. Tassil, Moula, and even as far as Banadiya. Our group is all volunteers, expect for Mr. Cain, who's a merc we found and hired." Sahib said, pouring a cup of coffee. "Coffee?"

Victor took a sip of coffee and immediately spat it out on the ground. "Okay...Who made this swill?" Victor said in annoyance. "If you can't make a decent cup of coffee, than don't even bother making it."

Victor immediately poured the pot of coffee on the ground and started making a fresh pot.

Sahib shook his head. "You'll have to forgive Mr. Cain. He's an excellent strategist and easily the best marksmen alive. But he has an _eccentric_ love of coffee."

"Hey there's nothing with wanting a good cup of coffee in the morning."

"You average a dozen cups a day."

"Okay...There's nothing with wanting a good cup of coffee in the morning, afternoon and evening."

Sahib sighed and shook his again. He walked over to the table in the center of the command room.

"So what's her name?" Mu said, motioning to the blond girl.

"We call her the Goddess of Victory."

"And I call the Overemotional Goddess." Victor said.

The blond let out an annoyed growl and threw an empty coffee cup at him. In a single, rapid motion, he drew his handgun and shot the cup in midair. He twirled the gun on his finger and holstered it. "See." Victor said. "Overemotional."

The girl scowled and left the room.

"Impressive." Mu said.

"I told you, he's the best marksman alive." Sahib said.

"But what's her name?"

"Cagalli Yula." Victor said.

"While this area may be under the domination of ZAFT, but it's not like they have enough forces can control the entire desert. Yet only three days ago ZAFT conquerer the Victoria Base. Since then, they've extended their control over the area."

"A shame about that." Victor said. "They ruin a rather nice contract I had with the Earth Forces."

"Oh?" Mu said.

"Yeah. I was suppose to report to the Victoria Base. They were gonna send me to the 8th Fleet. I would have been there when they linked up with you guys. Probably would have assigned me to the Archangel. But they attacked before I could get there. Had they waited a day, I would have made it. But ZAFT had other plans and I ended up joining these folks."

"The African community of this area has traditionally sided with the PLANTs. The lower region, the South African Union resisted as best they could. But in the end, the Earth Forces still abandoned them anyway." Sahib said with a sigh. "Everyday, the frontlines are being pushed back, farther and farther."

"But that hasn't stopped you guys, now has it?" Mu said.

Sahib took a long hard stare at him. "As we see, ZAFT and the Earth Forces are no different. They both come to gain control and take away what is ours."

"How well does that ship of yours' fare in Earth atmosphere?" Victor asked, pouring a cup of coffee. "Anyone else want some coffee?"

Murrue and Natarle both declined. Mu took a cup.

"It can't fly at high altitudes." Natarle replied.

"If it can't fly over a mountain range, then your option is to try to break through the Gibraltar Base."

"Which is suicide with your battle strength." Victor said, sipping coffee. "But there is another path. But it's potentially as dangerous as Gibraltar."

"What would that be?" Murrue asked.

"You could take the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and then to the Pacific. But there's one obstacle in your path."

"That would be?"

"The Desert Tiger."

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

Later That Night

_'I have to get stronger. If I don't, this ship is finished.'_ Kira thought as he furiously typed away in the Strike's cockpit.

"I've seen that look before. You're thinking that you're the only one who protect this ship and everyone on board."

Kira glanced around the monitor. Standing there was that mercenary. "Hi there. I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Victor Cain. Coffee?"

"Ah...Sure. I'm Kira Yamato."

Victor handed him a mug and two silently drank for a minute. "You know it will only get worse." Victor said.

"What?"

"If you spend all your time working on this thing and fighting, you're only burn yourself out." Victor said. "When that happens, all that with remain of you is a burnt out shell. And then you'll be useless to anyone."

"But I-"

"But you're the only one that can protect the ship. Stop being so arrogant kid. Everybody on board this ship is fighting to protect it. Not just you." Victor said. "No true defense can rest on the shoulder of one man."

"Now I'm not saying that spending some extra time on the Strike is wrong. But sending every waking moment in this cockpit will destroy you and likely get yourself killed. Take that other pilot, Chris. I noticed him spending a far amount of time with that red headed girl, teaching her martial arts. And right now, he's having dinner with the rest of you kids." Victor said. "Go, have some dinner with them. Don't make me pull you out of there and lock down the Strike."

Seeing as he had no other choice, Kira got out of the cockpit and headed outside. As soon as he was out of the hanger, Victor got into the cockpit of the Strike.

"Let's see just good this machine is." he said, pulling out the computer monitor.

* * *

Outside Tassil

"The whole town is asleep sir." DeCosta said.

"There are some who would put them to sleep permanently. There are those who like that approach. Not me. We'll give them a warning first then attack fifteen minutes later." Commander Waltfeld said. "Well, go on. Warn them."

"Sir." Martin said, getting into another jeep.

The jeep sped off for the town.

* * *

Eighteen Minutes Later

The kids from Heliopolis were all gathered around one of the many campfires in the rebel base, eating and taking amongst themselves.

"Things were certainly taken a strange turn." Sai said. "Who would have thought that we would end up in a rebel camp of all places."

"It's better than being alone the desert with only ZAFT Forces for company." Liz said.

"True. But it's still pretty strange."

"Well, strange things happen. It reminds me of the story of grandfather's dogtags." Chris said, pulling out said dogtags from underneath his collar. "My grandfather was-"

"The sky! It's burning!" someone shouted.

"It's coming from Tassil!!" another shouted.

* * *

And so ends another chapter.

_"Whether from a far or up close, they shall never see me coming until it is too late." _Victor Cain  
Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-1017MX GINN High Maneuver Type Custom 'Talos'  
Unit Type: Customized high mobility mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Lightwave pulse thrusters  
Armament: 1x JDP2-MMX22 experimental 27mm armor assault rifle with MA-M3 heavy sword bayonet, 2x beam saber (concealed in shoulders), 1x 76mm sniper rifle, additional weapons vary  
Pilot: Victor Cain  
Appearance: same as the GINN High Maneuver Type  
Color: Gray with dark gray trim  
Info: A mysterious GINN with an equally mysterious pilot. All that is known is that he was a member of the ZAFT's 11th Fleet until the death of the Black Hawk, John Alaric. Since then, he's been working as a mercenary, fighting for anyone willing to pay him.

Also I want to thank my fans, over a hundred hits within 24 hours. Keep on reviewing, cause it keeps me writing.


	12. Phase Eleven: Fangs of the Enemy

Yo everybody! I'm back. Sorry it took me so long. The holidays kept me busier than I had planned. But I'm back. Oh, and Happy Holidays and New Year everybody!

ZGMF-X14A Confusion Gundam: Actually, only once was the Strike's systems ever locked down. And that was at Artemis. During their time in the desert, Sai attempted to pilot the Strike. Implying that Kira never felt the need to lock down the Strike after Artemis. And Victor didn't hack the Strike. What he exactly did will be revealed later.

**Phase Eleven: Fangs of the Enemy**

Outside Tassil

"Is it over with? Were there any casualties?" Waltfeld asked his returning subordinate.

"Why would there be? It's not like we were actually fighting anyone." Martian DeCosta asked.

"I meant on both sides."

"There may have been the odd person who took a tumble or were singed by the heat." Martian explained.

"Then let's get out of here. The men will be returning soon."

"Wasn't the whole point of this to ambush them as they return?"

"Come on. That's not exactly fair, now is it?" a genuinely surprised Andrew said. "We didn't burn down their homes just to ambush them."

"But still-"

"Our objective has achieved. We'll be returning now."

* * *

When the Desert Dawn, the Raven, the Talos and a group from the Archangel's crew arrived, they found Tassil a blaze. But miraculously, not a single life was lost. However, the ruins of Tassil weren't the only fire raging. Chris was relieved. It would have been too easy for the ZAFT forces to simply burn this whole town to the ground, people and all. But it seems that their commander was a decent person.

"That dirty, mongrel dog! What's going through the maniac's mind?"

"He's trying to stop you attacking his men without killing your people." Victor said. "True, Tassil is gone. But it's people are alive and that's ultimately all that matters."

Chris immediately decided not to get involved. This Cagalli girl was just too stubborn and difficult.

Victor turned to the blazing ruins of Tassil. "This was probably payback for helping out the Archangel last night. All things considering, the Tiger was being generous. Doing something as minor as this."

"Minor?! How can you call a town being burned to the ground minor?!!" Cagalli shouted at the mercenary.

"What you fail to understand, is that these guys are professional soldiers. If they wanted to, they could have killed everyone in the town as well. And most of the land based commanders on both sides of this war, would not have give any warning at all."

"The Tiger's nothing but a lousy, stinking coward. He attacks our homes when we're not around and calls it a victory!" Cagalli ranted. "Every time we go out there, we fight with courage and honor! We even managed to take out their BuCUEs in the last battle! That's why that jerk commander can only strike back at us like a coward!"

"No. You're mistaken. He doesn't call this a victory. He calls this a merciful punishment." Victor said. "And what do you truly know of war and honor? Did you really expect him to sit back while his men are killed? No. Honor demands that he avenge them. And he did honorably and mercifully. Tell me Cagalli, what would you do if you were him?"

"I..."

"A group of rebels just ambushed and killed several soldiers under your command. You now have to write to their families that their loved ones are dead. And you don't know where the central base of these rebels is located. Meaning you can't attack them directly. So what would you do?"

"What Waltfeld did was the most honorable thing he could have done. He attacked a town supporting the rebels but warned the population beforehand, so they could escape. He could have easily wiped out this town and any other town that he believed was aiding us with ease."

"The Tiger's still a coward!" Cagalli shouted, glaring at him.

Desert Dawn fighters and many of the people of Tassil shouted their own agreements and glaring at the mercenary. Victor shook his head. "Whatever. I'm being paid to fight, not prove how wrong you people are."

"Sahib." an approaching Desert Dawn member said.

"What is it?" the rebel leader asked.

"Come here for a sec."

The two men approached the gathering group of Desert Dawn fighters and jeeps.

"Well?" Sahib asked.

"It's only been a short time. Tiger couldn't have gotten far from the village. If we follow them now, we can catch up." one man said.

"Since they burned down the whole town, they should be out of ammo." another added.

"We can't just sit back after this attack! We're gonna take the Tiger down."

"Don't be foolish! Tend to the wounded. Take care of your families. That is more important." Sahib said to his men.

"What good does that do us?! Our homes have been burned to the ground! And you want us to go cry with our wives and children!" shouted one rebel.

"Please. Listen to reason." Victor said, approaching the group. "No one has been lost today. But if you go after the Tiger with just these weapons and no planning, then your wives and children will be burying you."

"Coward!" one man shouted.

"It is not cowardice to avoid blindly chasing after an enemy." Victor said.

"What do you know?! You're just a Zaftie!" another Desert Dawn fighter shouted.

"I'm not saying we let him get a way with this. I'm saying that we should pause for a moment to plan things out rather than rush into something that will get us all killed."

"What are you talking about?! You got your GINN! You could take out all of those BuCUEs!" another rebel shouted.

"My GINN is primarily designed for space combat, not ground warfare. With proper planning, yes, I could take out five BuCUEs." Victor said. "But as it stands, we'd be lucky to escape with our lives."

"The two of you may have resigned yourselves to being the Tiger's lapdogs, but we won't be!"

The men got on their jeeps and took off as Cagalli approached. "Well, what are we gonna do boss?"

Sahib sighed. "Pedoru!" he shouted to one of men sitting in one of the few remaining jeeps.

"Are you going too Sahib?" Cagalli asked.

"I just can't let them get themselves killed." he said, climbing into the jeep.

"I'm coming too." Cagalli said as she tried climbing into the jeep as well.

Sahib pushed her out. "No! You stay here Cagalli."

"Then let me get my GINN and join you." Victor said.

"No. You stay as well. If I don't come back, take command of the Desert Dawn."

"What?! I'm a mercenary, not a rebel leader."

"You're the only other person with the skill and cool head to lead the Desert Dawn if something happens to me."

Victor sighed. "Fine. Just do us both a favor and don't get killed. You still have to pay me."

Sahib's jeep took off for the others. Kisaka and Ahmed pulled up next to Cagalli and Victor. "Come on Cagalli." Ahmed said.

Cagalli quickly climbed aboard jeep and the three took off for the others. "Well, this is a land where the wind and the people get very heated." Mu said as he and Badgiruel approached the mercenary.

"They'll be wiped out with those outdated weapons." Badgiruel said.

"It's always the most passionate that are the most heroic. And the most foolish." Victor said. "The question is, what are you going to do?"

"Don't you mean we?" Mu asked.

"No. I know what I'm doing. I'm going to ensure that I get paid." Victor said, heading for his GINN. "I suggest that you guys do that same. The Archangel is safe where it is, but if Sahib dies, you may not be escaping the desert at all."

* * *

"They're what?!" Murrue said.

"They want payback for Tassil. It doesn't matter to them that they're outgunned." Mu said. "Vic's heading out to make sure that they survive. But frankly, I doubt it'll make much difference."

"Then what do you recommend?"

"Send out the Strike to help them and we'll send out the Raven." Mu replied. "Who knows, we may get lucky and take out the Tiger as well."

"Very well. Send the Raven to help them. We'll send out the Strike."

"Tell Kira, I'll meet up with him." Chris said. "We can travel faster if I'm in mobile armor mode and Kira's riding atop the Raven."

* * *

"Shouldn't we hurry it up a bit more sir?" Martin asked.

"What's the rush?" Waltfeld lazily said.

"At this speed, the rebels will catch up with us."

"Then we're meant to meet. It's fate. Besides the GINN, none of their weapons are no match for our BuCUEs." Andrew said to his subordinate. "When people are put to the test, I often hear them boast that they'd rather die. Do you really think they mean it?"

"Commander!" the BuCUE squad leader said. "There's six-no...eight jeeps approaching. It's the rebels."

"Well...It seems that they'd rather die after all."

A barrage of rockets struck the lead BuCUE, doing little damage to the machine as the Desert Dawn attacked. Their jeeps headed for the Tiger's jeep, intending to take him out regardless of the cost. But the BuCUEs moved into protect their commander.

The Desert Dawn fought valiantly but were outgunned and outclassed by the BuCUEs. The BuCUE pilots didn't even feel the need to fire their weapons. Instead, they simply crushed the jeeps under their feet or ran over them.

Cagalli's jeep slid underneath one BuCUE and she and Kisaka fired their rockets at it. The BuCUE slowed and the instant the jeep pull in front of it, one of it's legs swung at the jeep.

"Get off!!" Kisaka shouted, grabbing Cagalli and jumping from the jeep.

But Ahmed was too slow. And both he and the jeep were sent flying into the air. "AHMED!!" Cagalli screamed at the sight of her friend.

The BuCUE turned it's head to the two. A pair of rockets struck the BuCUE's head. Sahib's jeep appeared, Sahib shouldering two rocket launchers. The BuCUE's attention turned to the jeep and chased after it. Sahib quickly started reloading one of the launchers. But the BuCUE was catching up on them. They weren't gonna make it.

A shot rang out. A round tore through the BuCUE's head.

"Come on, you punks! Why don't you try someone who can actually fight back!" Victor said as he fired more rounds from his sniper rifle on the ZAFT forces.

Two rounds tore through the BuCUE's missile launcher, destroying it.

"Come on! If we get close enough, that rifle is useless!" a BuCUE pilot said.

The BuCUEs all regrouped and took off for the GINN.

"Never underestimate this GINN or me!" Victor shouted.

The GINN discarded his sniper rifle and it's hands reached for it's waist. Hidden compartments on it's skirt opened, revealing beam sabers. Victor drew the sabers and activated the GINN's thrusters, sending it towards the BuCUEs. The Talos sidestepped the undamaged BuCUEs, heading for the damaged one in the rear. The sabers tore through the damaged BuCUE, slicing it into three pieces before it exploded. He spun around and kicked another BuCUE onto it's back when a third tackled him from behind. "Time to end this!" the BuCUE squad leader said as he and his two undamaged teammates prepared to fire on him.

A beam struck the sand near the BuCUEs. Everyone looked up. It was the Strike riding atop the Raven, in it's mobile armor mode. The Strike fired more beams at BuCUEs, all of which fell short. "I missed." Kira said to himself. "Right. I forgot to factor in the heat convection."

The Raven, which did not possess ranged beam weapons, fired it's railgun and machineguns at the BuCUEs, while Kira adjusted his rifle. The BuCUEs scattered, avoiding the rounds. The Strike jumped off the Raven, firing at BuCUEs while the Raven transformed back. The two mobile suits landed next to the Talos, which had gotten back onto it's feet. The GINN had switch from it's sabers to it's assault rifle. "Are you okay Mr. Cain?" Kira asked.

"I'm fine. Glad to see you boys join the party." Victor said. "And call me Victor. Mr. Cain makes me sound like an old man."

Suddenly, a barrage of a missiles flew at the trio. They scattered, avoiding the missiles, and fired at the the three attacking BuCUEs. Two managed to avoid the attacks. But one of the Raven's railgun rounds tore the hind right leg of the third BuCUE. The mobile suit collapsed. "What?! No way!" the pilot said as he tired to get his machine back up. "Dammit! I'm not done yet!"

The limbing BuCUE turned and fired remaining missiles at them. "You idiot!" Chris cursed as he fired at the BuCUE.

Two rounds tore through the BuCUE and it exploded. "If you had just stayed down, you would have lived." Chris said.

"Ahmed!" Cagalli shouted, holding her friend. "Ahmed! Look at me!"

Caga...lli..." Ahmed weakly said. "To me...you are the the Goddess...of..."

Ahmed's eyes closed and his head fell to it's side. He was dead. Cagalli desperately shook his body. "Come on Ahmed! Open your eyes! Ahmed!!!"

Elsewhere, the fallen BuCUE managed to get back to it's feet. "Kirkwood, let me get in and pilot that BuCUE." Waltfeld said.

"Commander?"

"There's somethings you just can't be sure of until you're exchanging fire."

The Strike dodged more missiles from the BuCUEs. Both the Talos and the Raven fired back, but the BuCUEs were too fast and avoided their shots. "Damn. These BuCUEs are just too fast." Victor said.

Suddenly, a barrage of missiles hit the Raven's back, sending it forward. "What? What was that?!" Chris said.

"That fourth machine. It's back up." Victor said, turning the BuCUE.

He fired at the BuCUE, but Andrew effortless dodged the shots and tackled the GINN. "This one's much better than before." Victor commented as the BuCUE headed for the Strike and the Raven. "Could it be? Is the Tiger at the controls?"

A BuCUE tackled the Strike but Kira blocked with the Strike's shield. Kira pushed the BuCUE back and aimed at the BuCUE. He was about to fire when missiles hit the Strike, throwing it's aim off. "Formation Delta, now!" Waltfeld ordered.

The two remaining BuCUEs formed alongside their commander while the Raven and the Talos reached the Strike's side. "Three against one? I don't think so." Chris said.

The trio raced towards the three mobile suits. The left one slammed into the Raven, the right one hit the Talos, and Waltfeld's BuCUE tackled into the Strike. The BuCUE's spun around and fired a barrage of missiles at the Strike and the Raven before they could turn to face them. The missiles hit their targets.

"Dammit." Chris cursed as he struggled to keep the Raven upright. "Kira, we have to get up into the air or we're toast."

"Right." Kira said as both mobile suits jumped into the air.

But the Tiger expected this. And as soon as they were in the air, his BuCUE jumped up at the Strike and fired several missiles at it at point blank range. While the two other BuCUEs jumped up and unloaded their remaining missiles at the Raven. Both Gundams fell back to Earth. The Strike landed on it's feet and quickly moved, dodging more of Waltfeld's missiles while the Raven fell on it's back, it's phase-shift armor deactivating. "Damn! I'm out of power!" Chris said.

"Don't worry. I got your back." Victor said, heading for the powerless machine.

"I knew it. That phase-shift armor is strong. But it's not unstoppable. Enough hits and it runs out of power." Waltfeld said. "Keep the other machines busy while I finish it off!"

One of the two BuCUEs headed for the GINN while the other headed for the Strike and tackled it, keeping Victor from helping. Waltfeld's BuCUE turned to the Raven, it fired off more missiles at it. Kira's eyes widened in horror as the missiles streaked towards the Raven. He had to stop them. He had failed to protect others too many times already. This time was going to be different. A purple seed shattered in the back of his mind. He fired his beam rifle and Igelstellungs at the missiles. They all exploded before they could reach the Raven.

"Whoa..." Chris said, in utter amazement at his friend's abilities.

"Impressive." Waltfeld said. "He's no Natural."

A BuCUE lunged at the Strike. The Strike ducked under the BuCUE and fired at it's underbelly, destroying it. As he got back up, Kira drew a beam saber and slashed at the Tiger's lunging BuCUE. It's left forearm went flying off.

"Dammit." Waltfeld cursed. "We're withdrawing."

The remaining ZAFT forces quickly fled the area. Leaving the Strike, the Raven, the Talos and the handful of surviving Desert Dawn fighters. Victor looked out at the survivors and shook his head. This is why he hated groups like the Desert Dawn. Few members of rebel groups truly ever understood the art of war. Most fought ruthlessly to kill their enemy regardless of the cost and most were passionate to the degree of blind fanaticism. And worse, they prescribed to the eye for an eye philosophy. Such people were simply fuel for the fires of war.

He watched Kira leave his machine and approach the survivors. He said something. Something that pissed Cagalli off. She grabbed his collar and shouted something back, gesturing towards the body of Ahmed. Kira slapped her. "Wow. He didn't strike me as the type to hit a girl." Victor said. "Well, someone needed to slap some sense into her anyway."

* * *

ZAFT Gibraltar Base

The Next Day

"I trust that there won't any further problems, Zane." Rau said.

"No sir. I apologize for my outbursts in space. It was a temporary madness. My emotions are back under control. It won't happen again sir." Zane said to the screen.

"Good. Ensure that it does not happen again." Rau said darkly. "How is Operation Spitfire proceeding on your end?"

"I have spoken with _Azrael_." Zane said, saying the Blue Cosmos Leader's name in disgust. "They have begun installing the Cyclops System under JOSH-A. But Azrael's supporters in the Atlantic Federation want the complete planning and tactical data on the Operation before they'll fully commit to Azrael's proposal."

"As expected. With the loss of Victoria, they're worried about losing Panama. I'll ensure that they get the data. What of the legged ship?"

"We've just received word. They're in Andrew Waltfeld's backyard." Zane replied. "Apparently, they managed to escape two attacks from the Desert Tiger. It seems that his skills aren't as great as they claim."

"I highly doubt that." Rau said. "The Tiger is one of our better commanders. It's more likely that he's testing the legged ship and it's mobile suits. When he's ready, the legged ship will find itself in a much more trying battle."

"Yzak's been demanding that we be allowed to go there and destroy the legged ship. Shall we go there and dispose of them?"

"No. Waltfeld should be able to destroy them on his own. But if he asks for reinforcements from Gibraltar, then by all means go."

"Very well then sir."

* * *

Banadiya

A pair of jeeps stopped amid the crowded marketplace. Kira, Cagalli and Victor stepped off. "Alright. Come back to pick us up in four hours." Victor said to Sahib.

"Dismissed Ensign...Er...Kira. Good luck. I'm...ah...counting on you." Badgiruel nervously said.

The two jeeps took off, leaving the three in the marketplace. Victor shook his head. "That woman needs to learn to loosen up." he said. "Okay. There's somethings I need to pick up. I'll find you when I'm done."

* * *

Aboard the Archangel

Elizabeth Dante smiled as she aced the Sky Grasper simulator again. Out of all of those that had tried it, she was best. Only Tolle and that girl Cagalli had come close to her scores. But then again, she was a Coordinator.

"Wow. You're good enough to pilot one of the two other Sky Graspers with Lieutenant La Flaga." Johanna said, resting an arm on the simulator chair.

"So you got all the Sky Graspers up and running?" Liz said.

"Yeah. All three are up and running. The morons that built these things, royally screwed up. It took so much longer than we expected." Johanna replied. "I see that you've been ruling the simulator."

"Considering that the only ones to try it have been Sai, Miri, Kuzzey, Tolle and that Cagalli girl, that's not saying a whole lot."

"True."

"Hey, what would I have to do to pilot one of these things in battle?" Liz asked.

"You'd have to talk with the Captain." Johanna replied. "Are you sure you want to do this? You'll be in danger every time you step in the cockpit."

"I know. But I want to do it. If Chris is fighting, then I want to help out too."

"Speaking of him, you'll know he'll freak out when he finds out."

"Of course. That's an added bonus." Liz said with a smirk.

"You know he's only trying to keep you safe."

"I know. But I hate it when he treats me like a child that can't protect herself."

"He just cares about you."

"I know."

* * *

"Good Flay. You're definitely improving."

It was true. Flay had improved considerably since he had started teaching her. He had suspected that she was practicing on her own. But he couldn't complain. It was working. She had become less and less withdrawn and more like her old self.

He had seen what happens to people that let their grief and anger consume them. Both in himself and in Zane. It was never a pretty sight.

"Raise your arm a little more." he said, grabbing her arm and moving it into the proper position. "And spread your legs apart a bit more."

Flay suddenly tripped and fell on him, knocking the two of them to the ground. Flay on top of him. Their faces practically touching. Both teens blushed. "Ah...I think that's enough for today." Chris said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'm fine." Flay replied, getting off of him.

Chris felt relived that she was off of him. And yet, at the same time, he felt disappointed.

A stray thought struck him as sat up. _'Admit it. You're falling in love with her.'_

No. Flay was Sai's girlfriend. Hell, they were arranged to be married. Look but don't touch. He wasn't the type to break up a relationship for his own selfish desires.

But still...

"Chris? Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. I kind of zoned out there for a moment." Chris said.

"Why did you you decide to help me?" Flay asked, handing him a bottle of water.

"Why? Well, I guess because you remind me of me after the Bloody Valentine." he said, taking the bottle as Flay sat down next to him. "All I could think of is how my home and just about everyone I cared about was gone. That pain and sorrow ate away at me. I wanted...needed to get rid of that pain. No matter what it took. And in my desperation, I took it out on people that nothing to do with the Bloody Valentine. And well, I believe that you already know what happen next. I figured that I should try to stop you from going down that path."

"Thank you." Flay said with a smile.

Neither were aware that they were holding hands.

* * *

An Hour and a Half Later

"What are these?" Kira asked as the waiter delivered their lunch.

"Donor kebabs." Cagalli said. "They're delicious. Especially with chili sauce."

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." a man in a red and yellow shirt with sunglasses and a hat said, grabbing the yogurt bottle. "But this yogurt sauce is the proper sauce to add. Or rather, it's considered a form of sacrilege to Donor kebabs, to not add yogurt sauce."

"Hey! Who do you think you are? Telling us how to eat our kebabs." Cagalli rudely said.

She poured chili sauce onto her kebab before taking a big bite out of it. "Mmm...Delicious!"

The man recoiled at sight of her actions. Cagalli then pushed the chili bottle in front of Kira's plate. "Here. Try it." she said.

"Oh no. Don't go forcing your bad habits on this guy." the man said, his bottle clashing with Cagalli's like a pair of duelists' swords.

The two both squeezed their bottles, pouring their two sauces onto Kira's kebab.

Unbeknownest to the trio, a group of Blue Cosmos terrorists were preparing to attack the Desert Tiger.

"Actually, they're pretty good together." Kira said, eating his kebab.

The man chuckled and took a seat at their table. "So, you two were shopping." the man said, taking note of their bags. "Throwing a party?"

"First off, who are you? What kinda guy just sits down at someone's table and starts asking them questions?" Cagalli said.

Suddenly, a rocket was fired from the roof of a building across the street.

"Hit the dirt!" the man shouted, kicking the table up and pushed the teens down.

The rocket flew past them and hit the restaurant window.

"For the preservation of our blue and pure world!!" a Blue Cosmos terrorist shouted, firing on the people in front of the restaurant.

"Die Space Invaders!!" another shouted.

Blue Cosmos terrorists emerged, firing on the people eating at the restaurant. ZAFT soldiers clad in civilian clothes, returned fire from behind knocked over tables. "Eliminate them all!" the man ordered.

One by one, the terrorists were gunned down. One terrorist that was running at the trio was shot and his gun slid across the ground, stopping near Kira and Cagalli.

Kira suddenly spotted a terrorist sneaking up on the man from an alley. In a single fluid motion, Kira drove, grabbed the gun and threw it at the man. The gun struck the man's face and Kira ran and kicked the man, knocking him down.

"Okay it's over." the man said as one of the soldiers shot the man on the ground.

Kira cringed as the man was shot. "Hey! Don't you even know what a gun is suppose to be used for?!" Cagalli said.

"Commander!" a red haired ZAFT officer said, approaching the man in the yellow shirt. "Commander, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Thanks to this young man." the man said, turning to Kira and Cagalli.

He pulled off his hat and sunglasses. Cagalli's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean, we were talking to Andrew Waltfeld. The Desert Tiger...It's him..."

"Dammit. Those filthy Coordinators. I'll kill them all." the remaining Blue Cosmos member said from his hiding place on the roof, as he loaded another rocket into his launcher. "Just one rocket and the Tiger's-"

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his neck, choking him. "You know, every time I see one of you thugs die, I feel that the world becomes just a little bit more blue and pure." Victor whispered into his ear. "It's people like you that destroy the honor and civility of war. So...how do you put it? For the preservation of our blue and pure world."

_SNAP!_

Victor dropped the body and glanced over at the scene on the streets below. Kira and Cagalli were being put on jeep with the Tiger.

"Well now, things are getting interesting." he commented. "I better make sure those kids don't get into any trouble."

* * *

Andrew Waltfeld's Headquarters

Twenty Minutes Later

"Sit, relax." Waltfeld said, pouring two cups of coffee.

Kira looked around the room, searching for an escape route, when he spotted it. A small replica of Evidence 01.

"Evidence 01." Waltfeld said, bring Kira a cup of coffee. "Have you ever seen the real McCoy?"

"No."

"I have no idea why they call this thing a Whale Stone. Does that look like a whale to you?" Waltfeld asked.

"I really can't say."

"If you ask me, those look like wings. And whales don't normally come with wings, now do they?"

"Yeah. But they brought this back from space as proof of extraterrestrial life." Kira replied.

"The point I'm trying to make is, why is this figure assumed to be that of a whale's?"

"Well then, what would you call it?" he asked.

"I have to admit, nothing comes to mind." Waltfeld said, sipping his coffee. "On to more pressing matters, what do you think of this coffee? Or have you not developed an appreciation for it yet?"

Kira took a sip of his coffee. It had an unusual taste to it. Not unpleasant, but unusual. It reminded him of the cup Victor gave him the other day.

* * *

Elsewhere, Victor quietly crept down the hallways of the Tiger's HQ. He had little difficulty evading the guards outside, but now that he was inside, things were a lot more difficult. If he wasn't careful, he'd bump into someone, it'd be all over.

But that aside, things were about to become much more interresting.

* * *

"Andy." Aisha said, knocking on the door.

"Come on in." Waltfeld replied.

The door opened and Aisha, along with a very nervous Cagalli, clad in a beautiful dress, entered.

"You're...A girl..." was Kira's only response.

"What's that suppose to mean?!"

"No. I meant that this again reminds me that you're a girl."

"That's the same thing, jackass!"

The two adults started laughing at the teens, embarrassing them. A few minutes later, when everyone had regained their composure, Waltfeld, Kira and Cagalli sat down the couches in the room.

"That dress looks quite good on you. From the looks of things, I'd say that you're accustom to wearing such fine clothes." the Tiger said.

"Say whatever you want." Cagalli replied rudely.

"The perfect little lady until you speak." the man said.

"Well, it's just as hard for me to believe that you're the Desert Tiger. Why are you spending your time dressing people up? Is that how you get your kicks, Waltfeld?"

"Aisha was the one that picked out the dress. And what do you mean by getting my kicks?" he said, sipping his coffee.

"Running around the city in a disguise or having residences evacuate their town before you burn it down."

"What lovely eyes. There's something sincere about them."

"Don't toy with me!" Cagalli shouted, slamming her fists onto the table.

"Are you one of those people who'd rather be dead?" Waltfeld asked.

"You." he said, staring at Kira. "What do you think about all this? What do think needs to be done to end this war? I'm asking your opinion as a mobile suit pilot?"

"Hey! How do you know that?"

Waltfeld laughed as Cagalli realized what she just did. "Being too sincere can also be a liability."

Waltfeld stood up and walked towards a desk. "Unlike sports, the game of war has no time limit or points awarded. So how do you determine the winners and the losers?" he said, rummaging through a drawer. "At what point do we put an end to it? When every single one of your enemies have been destroyed?"

He pulled out a gun, pointing it at the two teens. Kira pulled Cagalli behind him, his eyes scanning the room for a way to escape or something to use to protect them.

"I wouldn't try anything. Even if you have berserker capabilities, you still wouldn't be able to escape from here."

"Berserker?"

"Everyone here is a Coordinator, just like you." Waltfeld said. "I've seen you fight twice. You're the pilot of the Strike, correct?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. You are quite skilled. Take your adjustments to surface pressure and heat perimeters in the heat of battle. I'd say amongst us Coordinators, you'd be a top specimen. But of course, you comrade in the Raven is quite skilled as well. I'm curious to see which one of you is stronger."

The door suddenly flew open. Victor was standing there, a handgun aimed at the Tiger. "Andrew Waltfeld. It's been awhile." he said stepping into the room.

"Indeed it has." Waltfeld replied.

The two men approached each other, their guns pointed at the other. They stood there for a moment. Their guns practically pressing against each other's chests. Suddenly, to the surprise of both teens, they both started laughing and lowered their weapons. "I should have known you'd be too stubborn to be killed by an assassin." Waltfeld said, embracing Victor in hug. "And I should have known that you were the only one that could be that good of a shot."

"Well it wouldn't be lying low unless virtually everyone thought I was dead." Victor replied.

"You two know each other?" Kira asked.

"Of course I know the Black Hawk." Andrew said. "We've known each other since we were kids."

"John Alaric..." Cagalli said in shock, staring at the man they had known as Victor Cain. "ZAFT's dreaded Black Hawk...You're John Alaric?"

* * *

And so Victor's secret is revealed. Of course, if you read Gundam Seed Purpose, you already knew this. As always, review!

Next Time: Battle of the Hawk and the Tiger


	13. Phase Twelve: Beyond the Clouds of Sand

bloodyknight85: Really? I never read any of the SEED side stories, so all I knew was his name. But your wrong, he isn't trying to hide his past. His reasons will be revealed in the next chapter.

**Phase Twelve: Beyond the Clouds of Sand**

"Yes. Victor Cain was just an alias." Victor said. "My real name is John Alaric."

Kira stared at Victor-John, completely shocked. The man that was fighting alongside the Desert Dawn, was really working for ZAFT.

"You traitor!" Cagalli shouted, running at him.

Unfortunately, she forgot that she was in heels and tripped. John offered her a hand up, but scowled at him and got up on her own. John sighed. "I'm not a traitor. Well, not to Desert Dawn anyway. Aside from lying about my name, what I told you was the truth."

"Allow me to properly reintroduce myself. Commander John Alaric, formerly the commander of ZAFT's 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet." he said, preforming the ZAFT salute. "More commonly known as the Black Hawk. Currently working as a mercenary for the Desert Dawn. Andy and I have known each other since we were kids."

John poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip. "Mmm...This is good. Columbian beans with French cream and...Is that kona I taste?"

"Yes. It's one of my latest favorites."

"I can see why. Have you tried adding vanilla to this?"

"No. You know how hard it is to get that stuff."

"True. You know I have some-"

"Are you two just going to sit here and talk about coffee?!" an annoyed Cagalli said.

"And what's wrong with that?" Andrew asked.

"What's wrong?! You've captured us and he's been pretending to a mercenary and now all you what to do is talk about stupid coffee!"

Both men cringed at the words, 'stupid coffee'. "First off, you can insult us all you want, but never insult the coffee." Waltfeld said.

"Secondly, I haven't been pretending to be a mercenary. For the last six months, I have _been_ a mercenary." John added.

"Yeah right!" Cagalli shouted. "You're spying on the Desert Dawn for ZAFT! You probably warned the Tiger of our attack after Tassil!"

John shook his head. "Let me ask you this, if I was a spy, why didn't I warn the Tiger of our ambush or the minefield when we save the Archangel? Why did I argue with those men that foolishly threw away their lives after Tassil? If I'm a spy, why hasn't the Andy attacked the Desert Dawn HQ? Surely if I was a spy, he would have attacked the HQ instead of destroying Tassil." John said. "Finally, why is it that you had no problem with me when I was just a ZAFT soldier, but now that I'm a ZAFT commander, you accuse me of being a spy?"

"I...You..."

"Or could it be that you wish to blame me for yesterday as well?" John said. "Blaming someone for someone else's death in war is pointless. You might as well blame Ahmed for foolishly following the others to a battle that they could not win."

"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Cagalli shouted. "Ahmed and the others were fighting for their families! Their homes! And you blame them for their deaths?!"

"Those that died yesterday, died because they would not listen to reason and went to fight a battle they could not win." John said. "They didn't have to chase after Andy. But they foolishly believed that they could beat him with nothing more than jeeps and rockets."

John sighed. "Andy, send out the kids. I have something to tell in private." he said, before Cagalli could say anything else. "And I don't feel like arguing with the Overemotional Goddess anymore."

"Very well then." Andrew said. "Aisha!"

"Yes Andy..." Aisha said, entering the room and pausing when she saw John. "John...You're alive..."

"Hey Aisha." John said with a wave of his hand. "So have you two finally tied the knot?"

Andrew's face immediately redden. "I take that as a no." John said with amusement. "You two really should. You never know what happens during war."

Andrew cleared his throat. "Aisha, could you take these two outside for a while."

"Yes Andy." she said, escorting the two equally confused teens outside.

"So what's this all about? Why did you fake your death?" Andrew asked his childhood friend.

"Well...It started..."

* * *

_Aboard the Odin_

_In Earth Orbit_

_Six Months Ago_

"_Sir. We've just received our latest orders." William Stern said as he entered his office._

"_Know what the one thing I hate about space is?" John asked, sitting at his desk._

"_Sir?"_

"_Drinking coffee from a bottle." John said, taking a sip of his coffee. "So what's our orders."_

"_We've been ordered to engage the Earth Forces stationed near the abandoned colonies at L2."_

_John turned his chair towards the viewport behind his desk. "Why are they giving us such an easy assignment?"_

_He heard the sound of a gun being cocked. His eyes widened. "They feel that with the recent death of the Black Hawk, that the Fleet should take it easy for awhile." Stern said._

"_So...How long have you been working for Patrick Zala?" John said, not even bothering to turn to face him. "When did you decide to betray everything I taught you?"_

"_You're blind and weak! The Naturals want to wipe us out! They fear us because we will replace them! Junius Seven proved that! And yet you hold onto that outdated code of honor and refuse to see what must be done!"_

"_No. I see all too well what must be done." John replied, turning his chair around. "It's you who are blind."_

_Suddenly, the door opened. Diana Kessel and several soldiers, all armed with guns, entered. "Lower your weapon, traitor." Diana coldly said._

"_I knew that someone was spying on us for Zala and Creuset. I just didn't know who." John said. "I'm sorry to see that it's you."_

"_You're fools! All of you!" Stern said. "The Naturals will wipe us out! We have destroy them before they can!"_

"_Lower your weapon, scum. I won't ask again." Diana said._

"_FOR ZAFT AND THE FUTURE OF ALL COORDINATORS!!!"_

_A shot rang out._

_William Stern lifeless body floated backwards. A bullet hole perfectly between his eyes. John sighed, placing his gun on the desk. "Toss him out an airlock. Zala and Creuset know I'm close to something. Close enough that they'd try to have me killed."_

_The soldiers carried out Stern's body. Diana remained behind. "What are you going to do, sir?"_

"_There's not much I can do."_

"_But sir. Stern tried to kill you under Zala's orders."_

"_Unless we have concrete proof of that, it's useless. It could have been anyone that ordered him to do it. Or he could have been doing under his own beliefs." John replied. "Nor do we have any concrete proof of Zala or Creuset doing anything wrong. Everything is all hearsay and circumstantial."_

_John paused for a moment. "Besides, the Black Hawk is dead."_

"_Sir?"_

_John stood up and headed towards the door. "He was mortally wounded by an Earth Force's spy. The spy was killed by Alaric. And with his dying breath, named Diana Kessel as the new Commander of the 11th Fleet. Congratulations Commander Kessel." he said as the two made their way to the bridge. "But not all of the pilots agreed with that and a few left, becoming mercenaries."_

"_I don't understand sir. You're faking your death?"_

"_Yes. Zala and Creuset won't stop until I'm dead. They'll continue to watch the Fleet and harass us. So, I'll give them what they want. I'll continue my investigation by myself while posing as a merc. They'll never expect it."_

* * *

"I'm sorry to hear about Will. He was like a son to you."

"That is the danger of men like Patrick Zala. They're so consumed by hate, that the hate becomes a virus. And others become infected with it." John said with a sigh.

"So what do you know about Zala's plans?"

"Just over six months ago, Zala started in secret, a project to find a way to cancel out the effects of the N-Jammer."

"He wants to use nukes against the Earth Forces?" Andy asked. "Well, that would certainly end the war."

"I don't think that's all he's planning. Not with his insane hatred of Naturals."

John was quiet for a moment. "I think he's planning genocide. The genocide of all Naturals."

"There's no way that the council would ever let him do that."

"They may not have a choice. Clyne is refusing to publicly fight with Zala out of fear that it will internally destabilize ZAFT. As a result, Zala's running wild and gaining more support through propaganda and fear. Watch a ZAFT news broadcast. It's chalk full of propaganda and fear." John said. "There's something else. Something that truly terrifies me."

"What?"

"I recently found some partially deleted records of communication between some high up in ZAFT and the Earth Forces. Unfortunately, they were too damaged to learn anything of any value."

"A spy?"

"I doubt it. I think that Zala is going to give the Earth Forces the means to cancel out the N-Jammer when they have it. The Earth Forces will use nukes against some ZAFT bases, scaring the people of the PLANTs with the thought of another Bloody Valentine. With that level of fear, they'll let Zala do anything he wants. Even staining everyones' hand with the blood of billions and ultimately dooming all of humanity to extinction. But what I fear is that both sides will be a position to wipe each other out and won't hesitate to do so." John said. "What happened to the honor and civility of war? Without honor and civility, war becomes genocide."

"It was throw out the window when the Bloody Valentine happened." Andrew said. "So what are you planning?"

John didn't say anything immediately. He just drank some more coffee. "I'm hoping to find enough evidence to show the ZAFT Supreme Council before it's too late. That's all I can do." John said. "That's it. You can send the kids back in."

Andrew nodded and called Aisha and the teens back in.

"Now what to do with you three?" Andrew said, his gun once again raised.

"You saved my life and this isn't a battlefield." he said, putting his gun down. "Go. I enjoyed our talk and our reunion, John."

"The next time we meet Andy, it will be on the battlefield. You know that." John said.

"I suppose you're right."

"What's the tally at now?"

"We're dead even at 50 victories apiece."

"Then that battle will be our final battle." John said. "One of us won't be returning."

"It will be an honor to defeat you for the final time." Andrew replied.

"Funny. I was gonna say the same thing. Regardless, at the end of our battle, one shall stand, one shall fall."

"Wait! You're suppose to be best friends. How can you just go ahead and agree to kill each other the next time you see each other?" Kira said, shocked by their vow.

"Because, although we're friends, we're warriors and soldiers at heart." John said. "Neither of us will back down from our duties."

"And neither of us will dishonor the other by not fighting." Andrew said. "That is why we will fight and kill each other when we meet on the battlefield again."

Aisha led Cagalli to a room where she could change in her cleaned clothes. After she had changed, Aisha led them to a waiting jeep to take them back near the restaurant where they had met the Tiger. None of them said anything, but Cagalli glared at John. When they arrived, the jeep dropped them off and left, leaving them.

"Are you done glaring at me?" John said. "Despite what you may think, I'm not your enemy."

"Are you going to tell Sahib and the others who you really are?" Cagalli said, her tone still as rude as ever.

"Of course." John said. "I doubt it will be much secret anymore."

* * *

Desert Dawn HQ

A Few Hours Later

"So let me get this straight." Murrue said. "The name Victor Cain is just an alias. You are in fact, John Alaric. Former Commander of ZAFT's 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. You faked your death and for the last six months, have been fighting as a mercenary."

"Yes." John said. "Though I would ask that you all keep that a secret in your reports for that. If word got out as to who I was, there'd be people on both sides that would seek to kill me."

"You just can't expect us to just omit something like this from our reports." Badgiruel said.

"How about this Captain, I will serve aboard the Archangel until you have no need of me and in exchange, you keep my true identity under wraps." John said. "Even if we succeed here, there'll be a great deal of distance to cover before you reach the Earth Force's HQ. And you need all the help you can get."

Murrue thought it over for a moment. They need any help they could get. "Agreed."

"Captain!" Natarle said. "We can't just just-"

"He makes a valid point." Mu said, interrupting her. "We only have the Strike, the Raven and my Sky Grasper to protect the ship."

"Actually, Petty Officer Dante volunteered to pilot the second Sky Grasper." Natarle said.

"Really? Does her brother know?" Mu asked.

"No." Murrue said. "I told her to tell him before I would allow her to pilot a Sky Grasper."

"Well, that's one battle I wouldn't be a part of." Mu said. "Two mobile suits and Sky Graspers, one of which is being piloted by a someone with no real flight experience. So we need all the help he can get."

"What about you Sahib?" John asked. "What do you have to say about what I was keeping from you?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter to me. As you've said before, you were just a hired gun. Your personal matters are not my business."

"Well, now that this little business is done with, we can focus on our next task. Getting past the Tiger and to the Red Sea." John said. "Which won't be an easy task."

Sahib nodded. "This area here, is full of caves left over from abandoned mines." he said, pointing at the map. "And this area here, we've laid our landmines. If we're going to use any place for a battlefield, it would be here. Of course, the enemy knows this as well and they'll try to fight us there also."

"And the Tiger will likely have his own trap." John said.

"Are you okay with this?" Mu asked Sahib. "Not counting us, with how well your equipped, you can expect heavy casualties."

"We could do as the Tiger says. Give up and work for them. It's a very tempting offer and we would be assured a peaceful life, like those in Banadiya. Many of our wives have urged us to do so. But a ruler's hand can be fickle and brutal. Our people have suffered for centuries because of this." Sahib said. "We will not rule or be ruled. That is our wish. If we could retake the eastern mines that the Tiger took over, that wish would be fulfilled."

Sahib sighed. "Of course, we'll be taking advantage of your power as well. So that should put your mind at ease."

"Very well then." Murrue said. " I accept your offer to assist us in getting past the Lesseps."

"I was wondering, Captain Ramius, if I could borrow some of your crew hanger for a few hours?"

"Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Just a little something to demoralize the Tiger's men."

* * *

The Lesseps

Outside Banadiya

The Next Morning

"They're on the move?" Andrew asked he, Martin and the recently arrived members of the Creuset Team entered the Lesseps Command Deck.

"Yes sir. They're heading north-northwest. And there's something on the legged ship."

"Let's see it. Increase the resolution."

The screen displayed the Archangel and a group of rebel jeeps, heading for the Red Sea. The screen focused on the Archangel and the object on top of it's hull. Atop the Archangel's hull, a black GINN with white trim stood. A pair of white strips ran down each arm and leg and a white hawk in flight was on it's right shoulder. It's hands resting out in front of it on the barrel of a sniper rifle, like a statue of knight. Waiting for battle.

All of the ZAFT soldiers aboard the Lesseps, all of the ZAFT forces for that matter, knew that GINN. It was the Farsight. The GINN of the Black Hawk. Through ZAFT's propaganda, the Farsight, along with the other GINNs of the 11th Fleet were icons of ZAFT's military might. To see it aboard the an Earth Forces warship was...well like a slap in the face.

"No way! Is that the Black Hawk's GINN?" Dearka said.

"It can't be." Yzak said. "It's got to be some kind of trick."

"No." Andrew said with a smile. "It's him. The Black Hawk has thrown down the glove. He's sided with the legged ship and wants to fight me."

An uneasy silence filled the command deck. To face one of their own aces like the Black Hawk in battle was a truly frightening thought.

"They're heading for the Darpadia mines. If I was their commander, I'd do the same." Andrew said. "I wanted to wait a little while longer, but I guess it can't be helped."

"We're going to engage them?" Yzak asked.

"Yea. Get the Lesseps ready for take off. Notify the Petrie and the Henry Carter. One way or another, this ends today."

* * *

Aboard the Archangel

An Hour Later

Kira poked his food with his fork with little enthusiasm. Sitting next to him was Lieutenant La Flaga, eating his own lunch. Leaning on the wall behind them was John, drinking his fifth cup of coffee since the Archangel left the Desert Dawn base. Sitting across from them was Chris and Liz, eating their own lunches. When Chris found out that she was going to pilot one of the Sky Graspers, he had been less than pleased. The two had been arguing on and off since last night. In fact, this was the first time, since Liz told her brother, that they've been in same room and not arguing. Though they still weren't speaking to each other.

"Eat up, kid." Mu said, putting a donor kebab on his tray. "Come on. We're gonna going into a battle. You need to eat to keep your strength up."

"I love these things." Mu said, taking a bite out of his own kebab. "You should try it with the yogurt sauce."

Memories of Andrew Waltfeld filled Kira's head. He never imagined that the Desert Tiger would be so...so normal. Had they met in different circumstances, they easily could have become friends.

"What's the matter?" Mu asked.

"It's just the Tiger said the same thing." Kira replied.

Mu nodded. "It's better not to personally know your enemies. Forget about him."

John chuckled. "He's not a machine. Telling him to forget about Andy is pointless."

"Then what would you recommend?"

"To mentally prepare himself to fight and defeat Waltfeld." John said. "Telling him to do otherwise is pointless. The only way we can win here is to defeat the Tiger."

"But how can say that?! He's your best friend!" Kira said.

Everyone stared at John. John simply shrugged. "Because if I don't, then the odds of you succeeding is that much much smaller." John said. "There are times when we all must choose between what is easy and what must be done. I could take the easy path and not participate in this battle. But like I said, that would decrease your odds of success. You need my strength to aid you in this battle. I will take the hard road and fight my friend. And if need be, kill him. I accept that."

The sound of explosions filled their ears. "It's starting." John said, downing the last of his cup and heading for door. "Good luck out there."

Everyone rushed out of the mess hall, towards the hanger.

* * *

Kira finished zipping up his flightsuit as Mu argued over one of the comm consoles with one of the hanger crews. "That's right. Launcher on Unit 1, Sword on Unit 3. Why? Because it's faster for me to switch fighters than it is to reload!"

Mu sighed as he closed the comm channel. He turned to Kira. "I hate to say this, but we just can't count on the strength of those guerrillas. I'd wish you good luck, kid, but the way who've been fighting recently, I don't think we'll have too much problems."

Mu turned to Liz, now wearing a light blue flightsuit. "And you, stay on my wing and be careful. A real battle is far different from a simulator."

Liz nodded. "Got it."

* * *

John climbed in the Farsight's cockpit. He powered his machine up. It's crimson eye glowing. The Farsight lifted it's rifle up. "Archangel, Sahib, hold back for a moment. I wish to try something. Don't deploy the rest of the mobile suits and the fighters until I say."

There was a pause. "Very well." Murrue said.

"Attention ZAFT forces." John said, opening his comm to all channels. "This Commander John Alaric. I wish to speak with Commander Waltfeld."

* * *

Andy and Aisha were sitting in the cockpit of the LaGOWE when the call came. "Sir." DeCosta paused, unsure of how to say the next part.

"What is it, DeCosta?"

"The pilot of the black GINN, claiming to be John Alaric, is sending a message to our forces."

"Hold deploying the mobile suits and patch it through."

"Commander Waltfeld, as you know, I am a member of a group called the Desert Dawn. We are fighting to free these lands from the tyranny of any outsiders." John said. "However, neither of us truly wish to see lives needlessly. I propose we settle this with a duel. Just you and me. If I when, all ZAFT forces must withdraw from this area permanently and allow us to pass. If you win, the Earth Forces warship will surrender without a fight."

Needless to say, just about everyone was shocked by John's words. All of them silently waited for the Tiger's response.

"That's a tempting offer, John." Andrew replied. "But my answer is no."

"As much as I would like to battle you one last time in a duel, I have my duties and responsibilities as an officer of ZAFT. I cannot indulge in a duel here." he explained.

John nodded. "You have, of course, made the right choice." he said.

"Now! Deploy the mobile suits!" both men shouted.

The Lesseps and the Petrie deployed their BuCUEs as combat helicopters moved into position. While the Archangel deployed the Strike, the Raven and two of it's Sky Graspers as rebel jeeps and rocket trucks headed for the ZAFT forces.

The Strike fired it's beam rifle at the incoming BuCUEs. The BuCUEs dodged the beams and fired back with their missiles or railguns. Suddenly, a pair of railgun rounds tore one BuCUE as it avoid one of Kira's shots. The Raven flew overhead, it's railguns and heavy machineguns firing on the BuCUEs.

A shot rang out. A helicopter exploded. Another shot rang out. A round tore through a BuCUE's head, destroying it. A third shot rang out. The round tore through a BuCUE's front left leg. The Farsight scanned the battlefield. Kira and Chris were holding their own against the BuCUEs. The two Sky Graspers were hitting the ZAFT land carriers. Mu's Sky Grasper fired it's cannon at the Petrie. Smoke started billowing from the Petrie as it slowed down. He noted that two of the stolen G-Weapons and red GINN were atop of the ZAFT flagship. But there was no sign of Andy yet. "Come on Andy. Where are you?" John said to himself. "What are you planning?"

Suddenly, missiles hit the Archangel from behind. The Henry Carter emerged from it's hiding spot amongst a rocky region the Archangel had just past. More missiles and cannon fire rained down on the Archangel from the ambushing warship, forcing the Archangel to descend to the ground.

"Should have known." John said. "It was far too easy."

Suddenly, he saw it. The LaGOWE. In Andy's colors. "There you are." John said, taking off. "Let's settle this!"

The LaGOWE fired on the Strike. Kira brought up his shield, blocking the beams. The LaGOWE's beam sabers ignited as the mobile suit raced for the Strike. The Raven appeared in the air, firing on the LaGOWE. Andy dodged the shots as Aisha aimed the LaGOWE's cannons at the Raven and fired. The Raven turned, avoiding the shots. Kira reluctantly fired on the LaGOWE, but the LaGOWE was too fast and avoided the shots.

Suddenly, a shot rang out and the LaGOWE left wing exploded, stopping the LaGOWE in it's tracks. The Farsight lowered it's sniper rifle.

"John." Waltfeld said.

"Andy." Alaric said.

The LaGOWE's cannon turned, aiming at the GINN. The Farsight dove out of the way as the beams flew towards it. The Farsight discarded it's sniper rifle and drew it's assault rifle as it got back up. The two aces fired on each other as they dodged the other's attacks.

Elsewhere, the Archangel was taking a pounding from the Henry Carter as the Lesseps advanced on the warship. Suddenly, Sky Grasper 3, equipped with the Sword Striker, launched from the Archangel. Cagalli piloted her 'borrowed' fighter towards the Petrie.

"Who's in Sky Grasper 3?" Mu asked.

"I am." Cagalli said.

Mu sighed. "Okay. Stay on my wing with Liz. And try not to get shot down."

The Sky Graspers headed for the Petrie. The three fighters fired on the ZuOOTs atop of the land battleship. Bullets and beams tore through the ZAFT mobile suits, destroying them. Mu fired the Agni cannon on the Petrie, damaging it as Cagalli sliced one of the cannon turrets in two. Liz fired on another turret, destroying it. The damage vessel fired a barrage of missiles at the girls. Liz managed to dodge the missiles. But Cagalli wasn't fast enough. One missile detonated near her Sky Grasper, damaging it. Cagalli struggled to keep her fighter airborne. But ultimately, she was forced to land on the sands below.

Meanwhile, the Raven, having turned it's attention to the Lesseps. Chris swooped down on the ZAFT flagship, first firing on the left cannon turret and then the ZuOOT on the left side on land carrier, destroying both as the Duel, the Buster and the GINN fired on him. Chris pulled up, avoiding the incoming fire.

"Enough of this!" a frustrated Yzak shouted as he jumped off the Lesseps. "I'm through sitting around."

Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the Duel would need to be reconfigured for movement on desert terrain and it immediately sank into the sand.

Suddenly, the Archangel's Gottfrieds and Valiants fired on the Lesseps. Both the Buster and Zane's GINN were forced to leap off the warship to avoid the fire. And like the Duel, they too sank into the sand and all three found themselves being harassed by the jeeps of the Desert Dawn.

The Strike fired on the LaGOWE, which dodged the beam and returned fire, destroying the Strike's rifle. The LaGOWE's cannon fired on the Farsight as it turned towards the GINN. The Farsight jumped up and fired at the LaGOWE. But both missed.

Their battle had been long and grueling. All three machines were starting to run low on power. They all knew it would soon be over.

Andrew glanced at the Lesseps. It couldn't take much more damage. "DeCosta, signal the retreat." Andrew said. "There's no way for us to win anymore."

"Yes sir."

Andrew turned to his copilot and lover. "You too, Aisha."

"Actually, I'd like to stay sir."

"Then we're both idiots." Andrew said. "Let's do it!!!"

"Please! Stop this Commander Waltfeld!" Kira pleaded, trying desperately to stop the battling friends. "There's no reason to fight any more."

"I told you kid, I'm not giving up until one of us is destroyed!" Waltfeld shouted.

"But-"

"This is a battle between true warriors, Kira! It will only will only end in death of one of us!" John added.

The LaGOWE and the Farsight fired on each other. One of the LaGOWE's cannon barrels exploded while the beam tore through the Farsight's rifle and pierced it's right arm, rendering it useless. The Farsight's left arm drew it's beam saber. "Come on Andy, let's end this as warriors!"

The LaGOWE's beam sabers activated. "As warriors!" Andrew shouted.

The LaGOWE took off, heading for the Farsight. The LaGOWE leapt up as it reach the Farsight. The Farsight severed the LaGOWE's front left leg while at the same time, the LaGOWE severed the Farsight's left arm. Leaving it defenseless.

The LaGOWE continued past the Farsight, preparing to attack again. "It's over." Andrew said.

"Yes it is. The Hawk falls to the Tiger." John said, turning to face the LaGOWE. "End this Andy."

"NO!" Kira shouted, a seed shattering in his mind.

The Strike knocked the Farsight out of the LaGOWE's path. The Strike drew one of it's knives and stabbed the LaGOWE's back as the LaGOWE tackled the Strike. The Strike flew back while the LaGOWE landed and then crumpled on the ground, it's reactor going critical. In the LaGOWE's cockpit, Andy and Aisha embraced each other.

The LaGOWE exploded. The Farsight's cockpit hatch opened and John emerged. He saluted the fiery remains of his best friend as a lone tear rolled down his cheek. "Rest in peace, my friend."

Kira sat in the Strike's cockpit, staring at the remains of the LaGOWE. "It...It didn't have to end like this!!"

* * *

And so the Desert Dawn arc ends. Things are certainly going to heat up in the next couple of chapters. Personally, I can't wait to do the stuff between now and JOSH-A. There'll be some interesting things to come.


	14. Phase Thirteen: Sea Dyed Red

Yo everybody! I'm back with an extra long chapter. But before we begin, what's with the lack of reviews for that last chapter? The two chapters generated a few chapters, but the last one only generated 1 review. I love to hear from my fans.

**Phase Thirteen: Sea Dyed Red**

Desert Dawn HQ

Later That Night

"To a new Desert Dawn." Sahib said, raising his glass.

"To a victorious future." Murrue said, raising her own cup.

"I'll drink to that." Mu added as he and Natarle raised their cups.

"To those who were lost." John said, adding his own cup to the others.

The five downed the contents of their cups. "Damn. I'm gonna need some more shots of this before the night is done." John said as Natarle started coughing.

"You know, things won't be easy for you guys." Mu said. "The Tiger may be gone, but you'll still have to deal with ZAFT. Once they regroup, ZAFT will try to take back those mines."

"Indeed. It will only be a matter of time until they come back. You should fortify and booby trap the mines as soon as possible." John said. "Of course, you may get lucky and ZAFT will decide that it's better to leave the area alone, rather than face the rebel group that beat the Desert Tiger."

"When and if they do come, we'll be ready for them." Sahib said. "We'll fight to the last man. Against anyone that oppresses us."

Sahib's son entered the command center. "Father!" the boy called out. "The Chief wants us to honor our fallen warriors."

The group headed outside, where men, women and children were gathered, paying their respects to those lost in the last few battles. While the others joined the group, John moved towards the rock wall and pulled out a knife. He began to crave into the rock face.

_Andrew Waltfeld_

_Aisha Mercer_

When he finished, John saluted the names he craved. It was all he could do for his fallen friends at the moment. But when the war was over, he would erect a proper gravestone for them.

* * *

The Next Day

"But you have to take me with you!" Cagalli said. "You people don't have any idea what's going on down here. And I'm better at solving any of supply problems than anyone else in your crew."

"However-"

"Of course, I can't say that I'll come with to Alaska. And I'm not joining the Earth Forces. But you need my help." Cagalli said.

"What do you mean, you're help?" Mu asked.

"I...I can help in lots of ways."

"Oh? And just how does an overemotional little girl going to help us out?" John asked.

Cagalli held back a growl. "Whatever the case may be, I'm going with you aboard the Archangel. I've already decided." she said before storming off.

"Man, what a stubborn, spoiled, overemotional, hot-headed, little girl." John said, sipping coffee. "I pity the poor fool that falls in love with her."

* * *

The Archangel

The Indian Ocean

The Next Day

The Archangel glided across the waters of the Indian Ocean Chris, Liz, Tolle, Miri, Kuzzey and some of off duty crew members were standing on one of the outside decks, enjoying the cool breeze and the vast sea below them.

"Wow..." Liz said. "Look at all that water. I've never seen so much."

"That's right. This is your first time at sea, isn't it?" Tolle said.

"Actually, this is the first time we've been on Earth, period." Chris said, leaning on the guardrail.

"Really? Then this must be really different from what you're use to." Miri said.

"Yeah. I've seen pictures of Earth's oceans and deserts, but to actually see it with my own eyes is something else entirely." Chris said. "The pictures don't do them credit. Hey, where's Kira? He should be out here, enjoying this."

"I don't know." Tolle said. "I think he's still in the hanger."

"I'm gonna go find him." Chris said, leaving for the hanger.

* * *

"The Earth Forces have certainly left you in a difficult position. Ordering you to head to Alaska but not sending you any supplies." Kisaka said. "Although I'm sure you have enough food and water, but it would wise to avoid the enemy when ever possible."

"But sailing out into the Indian Ocean is an extremely risky plan." Natarle said. "If we were attacked out there, we'd have no where to escape to."

"There is no 'safe' route." John said. "No matter which route we take to Alaska, there will be danger. All things considering, this is the safest route. ZAFT does not have the numbers to just seize territory with reason. The middle of the ocean will have the least presence. With a little luck, we should be able to avoid any major ZAFT naval groups in the area. Now if you excuse me, I have to finish patching up my machine and getting it repainted."

* * *

One of the hanger crew had told Chris that Kira had headed for the rear hanger. So that's where he was headed. Chris found the door and opened it. What he saw surprised him. Kira and Cagalli hugging.

The two turned to him. "I...Er...I...Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt anything. I'll be going now." he said.

Cagalli pushed Kira back. Both were blushing. "It's not like that at all!" Cagalli said. "Kira looked upset and I was just-"

"I don't wanna know. And I'm not gonna say anything." Chris said, leaving the pair.

* * *

Vosgulov Class Submarine, Varnass

"I was quite surprised when I learned of Commander Waltfeld's death." Rau Le Creuset's recording said. "I feel partly responsible as I should have been able to stop them before they reached Earth. His death is a tremendous loss. In short time, I shall arrive on Earth for Operation Spitbreak. This legged ship and it's crew are formidable, so I trust I'll be able to rely on your assistance when the time comes, Commander Morassim."

Commander Marco Morassim punched the console, ending the message. "That punk Le Creuset. He's got some nerve sending me a condescending message like that." he said. "But it doesn't matter. I'll go along with his plan. But I'll be the one to fell that so-called legged ship."

* * *

The Archangel

"You know, you're a pretty strange guy." Cagalli said, sitting by the door to the inside of the Archangel. "Take that time when you totally freaked out and slapped me."

"Sorry." Kira said, leaning against the guardrail.

"Well...It's not that I'm really mad. It's just that I wonder some times why your a Coordinator."

"What?"

"Oh. That didn't come out right. I mean, why are you fighting for the Earth Forces if you're a Coordinator?"

"You probably think that's strange. I get that a lot."

"Whether or not people think you're strange is beside the point. We're at war because Naturals and Coordinators are determinded to wipe each other out, no matter the cost. Don't you have any strong feelings about that?"

"What about you?"

"My feelings about someone don't matter whether they're a Coordinator or Natural."

"Same here." Kira said.

"But at the same time, I feel that if someone attacks you, you have to fight back."

"War isn't just fighting back against an attacker. War is never that simple." John said, entering the deck. "It is the greatest and most terrible thing humanity has ever done. It's just that most never see the good in war."

"What's so good about war?" Cagalli rudely said.

John leaned against the guardrail. "War claims lives, destroys homes, brings pain and suffering to all. It is a terrible, bloody thing." John said. "But it can also show us humanity's courage, it's ingenuity, it's strength, it's honor and most importantly, people's desire to change the world for the better. It is only in battle, when one is pushed to the limit, that we can truly understand who we are. Also, there are some things that one can never truly know about someone until they face them in battle. When people are fighting, they fight with their hearts and souls. And nothing changes the world for the better faster than the horrors of war. That is the good in war."

"There's one thing that's bugging me." Cagalli said. "If you were a ZAFT commander, why are you now fighting as a mercenary?"

"When I was Victor Cain, it was simply for the money. Which has been a rather nice amount. As to why I fight as I am now, there are people within ZAFT, powerful people, that want nothing more than to turn this war into a war of genocide." John said. "There is no honor in such a war. There is nothing good about genocide. And I will fight against it. Even if I must betray my homeland to do it. I have no illusions about the choice I made. When this war is over, chances are, I'll never set foot on the PLANTs again. But it will be worth it if I can help bring a peaceful end to this war. Besides, I left the men and women that served under me in good hands."

"That woman Lieutenant La Flaga mentioned." Kira said.

John smiled. "Yes. He would remember her." he said. "Mu shot her down at Endymion Crater. Though she survived. She actually considers Mu to be the only worthy pilot in the Earth Forces and she's determined to beat him. The fact that he's managed to survive the engagements in space you had with the 11th Fleet, speaks very highly of his abilities."

"All hands to Level 2 Battlestations! I repeat, all hands to Level 2 Battlestations!"

"Well. It looks ZAFT has found us." John said. "I was hoping that they'd still be in disarray in the area for a few more days. But it looks like it wasn't meant to be. You better get going. My machine's still being repaired. So it's up to you and the others to protect the ship this time."

* * *

The hanger deck was a flood of activity as the hanger crew rushed to get the mobile suits and Sky Graspers prepped for launch. Cagalli approached the third Sky Grasper. "Hold it right there." Johanna Dante said, blocking her path. "This one's still under repairs from your little stunt from the last time."

"Then I'll just take the other one." Cagalli said.

"Too late." Johanna said, pointing to Sky Grasper 2.

Cagalli turned her head. Liz closed Sky Grasper 2's cockpit as the crews loaded the Sword Striker onto it.

"Sit back and wait while we get this one fixed." Johanna said.

"So, do we know what we're up against?" Chris asked as he powered up the Raven.

"It's pair of DINNs." Miri said.

"DINNs?" Chris said, checking the Raven's computer.

_'A transformable, atmospheric mobile suit.' _he thought as he read the profile on the computer. _'Just like the Raven.'_

"The Captain has given the go ahead for the Raven and the Sky Graspers to launch. The Strike will remain on standby." Miri said.

"But-"

"Relax Kira. There's not much you can do in this situation anyway. The Strike can't fly in the atmosphere or swim." Mu said.

"Alright."

The Raven loaded onto one catapult as Mu's Sky Grasper was loaded onto the other catapult.

"Raven Gundam launching." Chris said, launching the Raven.

When the Raven cleared the catapult, it transformed into it's mobile armor mode. Mu's Sky Grasper followed, launching from the other catapult. A few minutes later, Liz's Sky Grasper was launched

The DINNs were already upon the Archangel, firing their assault rifles on the vessel. The Archangel's Igelstellungs and missiles returning the fire. The DINNs dodged the incoming fire.

"Chris, you take the one on the left. Liz and I will get the one on the right." Mu said.

"Alright." Chris said, heading for the left DINN.

"So this is the Raven, one of the Earth Forces new mobile suits." Commander Morassim said, firing on it.

The bullets little effect on the Raven's phase shift armor. "You gonna need something a lot stronger than that." Chris said, firing back.

Morassim dodged the fire. "Damn. These mobile suits are as tough as they say." Morassim said. "GOOhN Team, are you in position?"

"Yes sir." one of the pilots replied.

"Then fire!"

A pair of GOOhNs fired a barrage of torpedoes at the Archangel. The Archangel rose into the air, avoiding the torpedoes. But the GOOhNs began firing on the now airborne Archangel. The Strike, standing on the end of an open catapult, fired it's beam rifle at the GOOhNs, but they dove underwater, avoiding the beams. The GOOhNs surfaced and fired again. One missile struck the Strike, knocking it back. "Chief Murdoch, didn't we get a bazooka from the Eight Fleet?"

"Yeah. Why do ya ask?"

"Could you get it for me." Kira said. "I'm going underwater."

"Diving? But kid, the Strike wasn't designed for that. It'll-"

"Know that. But we have no choice." Kira said. "We have to do something."

A few minutes later, the Strike, armed with a bazooka, stepped onto the catapult. The catapult activated, launching the Strike into the water. The Strike fired a one GOOhN. But underwater, the Strike was slow while the bulky GOOhNs were fast and agile. The GOOhN avoided the rocket while it's comrade slammed into the Strike from behind. The other GOOhN fired a pair of torpedoes at the Strike, hitting it. Kira fired back, but again the GOOhNs dodged his shots. More torpedoes hit the Strike. The first GOOhN slammed into the Strike. The second one followed suit, tackling the Strike. But this time, Kira managed to grab on, losing the bazooka in the process. He pulled out one of the Strike's knives and stabbed the GOOhN's back, piercing it's armor. He let go of the GOOhN. With a breach in it's hull, the GOOhN was crushed by the water pressure, like a tin can.

In skies above, the DINNs were struggling against the Raven, the Sky Graspers, and the Archangel. One DINN fired on the warship. The Archangel fired back with a barrage of missiles. The DINN dodged the missiles. But the pilot was so occupied with the missiles, he didn't notice Sky Grasper 2 coming at it from behind. The large anti-ship sword sliced through the DINN. A split-second later, the two halves exploded. Debris rained downed on waters below.

"Dammit." Morassim cursed as he dodged incoming fire from the Raven. "What's taking the GOOhN Team?"

The remaining GOOhN slammed into the Strike, dropping it's knife from the impact. Kira swore as more torpedoes struck the Strike. He with the loss of his last knife, he was out of weapons. Suddenly, he spotted the sinking remains of the DINN. Specially, the rifle still being clutched by the DINN's arm. The Strike moved towards the arm, pulling the rifle from hand. The GOOhN tackled the Strike. Kira slammed the rifle barrel into the GOOhN's chest and squeezed the trigger.

Commander Morassim dove low, avoiding the Raven's fire. Ahead of him, an explosion from underwater appeared. Wreckage from a GOOhN surfaced. "What?! They've been wiped out?!" Morassim said.

Suddenly, a round from the Raven's railgun tore through the DINN's left wing. "Damn. Time to withdraw."

His DINN took off, heading back to the Varnass. He had been beaten this time. But next time, he'd destroyed that legged ship personally.

Kira stared at the wreckage of the GOOhN. His thoughts again on Commander Waltfeld. _'I hate this. I hate this whole war. But if I don't do this...'_

* * *

Laurasia Class Frigate, Tsuigara

In Earth Orbit

The Next Day

"Gibraltar Weather Service reporting sunshine with a high of twelve degrees, humidity of forty-five percent. Wind is from the west-northwest, at twenty-seven kph." the comm officer reported to the pilots sitting in their mobile suits in the hanger.

"Then hurry up and launch us already." Saul said.

Nicol chuckled. "I forgot, you don't like orbital drops."

"Shut up. They make me sick to my stomach." Saul said.

Athrun started to laugh. "Hey! You shut up too, Mr. Can't Stay Awake For One Little Concert."

Nicol started to laugh. "He's got you there, Athrun. He didn't fall asleep like you did."

"Attention. Deploying atmospheric re-entry capsule in T-minus ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

They all felt the slight shutter as the hanger was detached and began it's decent to Gibraltar. Saul groaned as they started entering the atmosphere. He hated going through the atmosphere.

* * *

The Bridge of The Archangel

"There's no doubt about it. Those suits couldn't have any place other than a submarine carrier." Mu said.

"A submarine carrier?" Murrue said.

"ZAFT's Vosgulov class submarine to be exact." John said, a mug of coffee in his hand. "Carpedtaria is too far for them to be able to find us, attack and return. And had they been launched from a normal sea carrier, we would have picked them up. So that leaves a submarine carrier. This is the first time this ship has been on water, which means the crew isn't experienced in naval operations and isn't use to using sonar. They're following us. Sooner or later, they'll attack again."

"Any idea who it is?" Mu asked.

"Well...I've been out of the loop for months, so I only know who was stationed in this region six months ago." John said. "It could be Commanders Marco Morassim or Zack Messa. Or it could be some other commander. Either way, we'll have to take them out the next time."

"Any ideas?" Murrue asked.

"Give us some time." Mu said. "We'll come up with something."

* * *

Gibraltar Base

The drop capsule door opened. The Blitz, the Aegis and the Surge exited the capsule and lined up alongside other mobile suits.

"Gah..." Saul said as he exited the Surge's cockpit.

He was thankful that he had made sure that he avoided eating anything before the drop. Otherwise... He shuttered at the thought of losing his breakfast with his helmet on.

"Hey come on Saul!" Nicol shouted. "We suppose to meet up with the rest of the Team."

"I'm coming. I'm coming." he said as he descended from the cockpit.

The three made their way to the briefing room where the rest of the Creuset Team was waiting. "Please sir! Listen! I can get him! I know it!" they heard Yzak shout as they opened the opened the door.

"Calm down Yzak. You're acting far too emotionally." Le Creuset said.

"Yzak...That scar..." Athrun said, staring at the large scar on his face.

"Wow. Well, you ain't a pretty boy no more, Scarface." Saul said, chuckling.

Dearka laughed and Nicol chuckled as well.

"Shut up!" Yzak shouted, shooting death glares at him.

"Shame it only improved your looks and not your attitude as well."

Yzak looked ready to tear him apart. "The wound has healed." Creuset said, breaking up the potential fight before it happened. "However, he's decided to keep the scar as reminder until he's destroyed the Strike."

"Now that we're all here, why don't begin the briefing sir." Zane said from his chair.

"Yes. Everyone take a seat." Creuset said. "The Earth Forces' legged ship is heading to the JOSH-A Base in Alaska. You must stop them before they reach their HQ with the data they've acquired. However, that mission has been assigned to the Carpentaria Base."

"But sir! That's our job!" Yzak said. "It's unfinished business!"

"I agree with Yzak." Dearka said. "That legged ship is our business."

"I agree as well. They've humiliated us again and again." Zane coldly said. "We should be the ones to destroy that ship and it's mobile suits."

Creuset waved his hand. "Needless to say, I feel the same way." he said. "I have to prepare for Operation Spitbreak, so I must remain here. But if you we that strongly about it, why don't you go try it yourselves."

Yzak instantly grinned. "Yes sir!" he said.

"Then well form a Team consisting of Yzak, Dearka, Zane, Athrun, Nicol and Saul. And your commander will be...Let me see...Athrun. I'm putting you in charge."

The announcement of who the commander was, did not please Yzak, who scowled at Athrun. While everyone else was surprised by the announcement.

"I'll assign you to a submarine in Carpentaria. You should leave immediately."

"But why me Commander?" Athrun asked.

"That ship has been a real thorn in our side. It will not be easy." Creuset said, putting a hand on Athrun's shoulder. "I'm counting on you, Athrun."

Creuset then left, saying, "Good luck." as he left.

"So now we're the Zala Team?" Dearka said.

"I don't know. I kinda like the name." Saul said. "It's a nice ring to it."

"Hmph. This should be good." Yzak said, his voice dripping with annoyance and sarcasm.

"Yeah, it will be good. Certainly, a lot better than being the Joule Team." Saul said.

"Hey!"

Athrun wasn't listening to the two. His thoughts were on the Strike and Kira. The next time they met, he'd have no choice but to destroy him...

* * *

The Archangel

"Ma'am, we have a sonar contact at 7o'clock. It's a mobile suit signature." Chandra said.

"Have you identified them?" Murrue asked.

"Two GOOnHs and...one unknown."

"All hand to Level One Battlestations!" Murrue ordered.

The ZnO and the two GOOhNs approached the Archangel from under the water. Morrassim grinned. "They're traveling in shallow waters. Perfect for this ZnO. And since Le Creuset's already landed, we better sink this ship now!"

Torpedoes from all three machines streaked towards the Archangel. The Archangel rose into the air, avoiding the torpedoes. The GOOhNs surfaced and began firing on the ship. The Archangel fired back, but GOOhNs dove underwater, avoiding the attacks.

Inside the Archangel's hanger, Cagalli was picking a fight with Chief Murdoch, who was refusing to let her pilot the fighter again.

"Just let her pilot the thing already!" John shouted from the cockpit of his repaired and repainted GINN.

"Stubborn girl." John mumbled as he sat down and powered up his machine.

The Sword Striker was loaded onto the Strike while the Launcher and Aile Strikers were loaded onto Sky Grasper 1 and 2. John's GINN was equipped with his sniper rifle and a GINN sword. The first two Sky Graspers were then loaded onto the catapults with the third one waiting behind the first to go.

"Alright. Listen up girls. The three of us are gonna hunt down their carrier while the mobile suits stay to defend the Archangel." Mu said.

"The name's Cagalli."

"Jeez. Are you always this high-strung?" Liz said.

"I'm not high-strung!" Cagalli shouted back.

"Yes you are." Liz said. "It's a very repelling feature of your's. I doubt there's many people that find you attractive because of that attitude."

"Shut up!" Cagalli shouted as the first Sky Grasper took off. "I bet you're now gonna try to hook me some with guy you know."

"Nah. I don't know any good guys that would date you. Truth be told, I've never been attracted to guys." Liz said. "Elizabeth Dante. Sky Grasper 2 launching."

"Wait...What? Was she trying to hit on me?" Cagalli said as the Sky Grasper took off.

Chris started laughing. "No." he said. "While she does swing that way, she doesn't find you attractive in slightest. I think she said that you're too much like a guy for her taste."

"For the last time, I'm a girl!" Cagalli shouted as her fighter was loaded onto the catapult.

"Personally, I think the jury's still out on that." Chris said.

"You should have seen her in that dress at Andy's place. If it wasn't for her mouth, she would have been the perfect little lady." John said.

Cagalli let out a loud growl. "Whatever! Cagalli! Sky Graser 3 launching!"

John chuckled. "Alright boys, here's the game plan. Kira, you're gonna drop into the water and battle the mobile suits directly. Try to force them to the surface. Chris, I want to keep the Raven in it's mobile armor mode, to serve as an atmospheric platform for my machine. We'll try to pick them off as they attack from the surface."

"Right."

"Got it."

The Raven and the once again gray Farsight were loaded onto the catapults.

"Chris Dante, Raven launching."

"John Alaric, Farsight launching."

The two mobile suits were launched into the air. The Raven transformed into it's mobile armor mode and the Farsight landed on it, it's sniper rifle ready to destroy the ZAFT mobile suits.

"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam launching." Kira said as the Strike was launched into the air.

The Strike dropped into the water below. The GOOhNs fired a barrage of torpedoes at the Strike. Avoided the torpedoes and swung his sword a GOOhN. The GOOhN was too fast however, and dodged the sword, racing past the Strike. The Strike turned around, firing it's Igelstellungs at the passing GOOhN. The second GOOhN fired it's phonon maser cannons at the Strike. Kira raised his shield, blocking the beams as he moved behind some rocks. Suddenly, torpedoes struck the rock he was behind, destroying it and knocking the Strike back. ZnO appeared, transforming into it's mobile suit mode. "I got him." Morassim said. "You guys go after the ship."

The ZnO fired it's hand cannons at the Strike as the GOOhNs headed towards the Archangel. Kira barely dodged the beams before the ZnO lunged at him. "I'm gonna tear you apart with this ZnO!" Morassim shouted, swinging a clawed hand at the Strike.

Kira blocked the hand with his sword. But the larger machine swung it's other hand at the Strike, swatting it like a fly. Torpedoes hit the Strike. "Gah! It's too strong!" Kira said as the cockpit shook violently.

* * *

Gibraltar Base

Athrun waited in the passenger compartment of the transport plane as the pilots went through their final check. The others had left hours ago. But his plane had been grounded because of mechanical problems that they had only just fixed.

"Fasten your seat belt." the pilot said over the intercom. "We're ready for take off."

Athrun fasten his seat belt. It was a little humiliating that the first day of his first command had been plagued with a mechanical delay. If he was superstitious, he might have taken it has a bad omen about his command...

* * *

The Sky Graspers flew over the water, searching for the submarine carrier that the mobile suits. Unbeknownst to them, the Varnass was already preparing to surface, so it could launch it's DINNs at the Archangel. "There it is." Mu said.

The Sky Graspers each fired off an anti-sub missile at the submarine. The missiles struck the submarine. The submarine surfaced, it's three vertical mobile suit catapults opening. DINNs were preparing to launch.

"Oh no you don't!" Mu said, firing the powerful Agni cannon at the sub.

The powerful beam tore through the sub. A massive pillar of fire and smoke emerged from the submarine. Moments later, it exploded.

"Did we get it?" Cagalli said, staring at the pillar of smoke and fire on the water.

Suddenly, a DINN emerged from the smoking, firing on Cagalli's Sky Grasper. Cagalli barely avoided receiving a fatal blow. But the DINN managed to hit her fighter. Mu fired on DINN, causing it to move away from the damaged fighter.

"Are you okay?" Mu asked.

"Yeah." Cagalli replied. "It's only my navigation system."

"Head back to the Archangel, we'll handle the DINN." Mu said.

"No. I can still fight."

"Head back! You're only getting in the way now!" Mu shouted.

"Fine." Cagalli growled, heading for the Archangel.

"Liz, can you keep him busy?"

"Yeah." Liz replied, firing on the DINN.

The DINN evaded the bullets and beams of the Sky Grasper and returned fire. Liz took a sharp dive, dodging the DINN's fire. The DINN took aim at the diving fighter. It was about to fire, when Mu fired the Agni cannon at the DINN. The mobile suit never stood chance against such a powerful gun. The DINN was destroyed instantly.

"Got him!" Mu said triumphantly. "Come on, let's head back to ship."

* * *

A GOOhN surfaced and fired on the Archangel. A trio of rounds pierced the head area of the mobile suit. The GOOhN exploded. "That's one." John said as the Raven and the Farsight flew over the wreckage. "Now let's get that other one."

The other GOOhN rose and fired a trio of missiles at the Raven's underbelly, causing both mobile suits to fall into the water. Chris swore as the Raven sank under the water. The GOOhN slammed into the Raven. Chris held onto the front of the GOOhN. "This isn't the Strike." Chris said. "The Raven's guns aren't beam weapons."

He jammed the barrels of his railgun into the GOOhN's underbelly and fired. The rounds tore clean through the GOOhN's body. A second later, it exploded, pushing the Raven back.

"Damn. I hate fighting underwater." Chris said, heading for the surface.

Elsewhere, the battle between the Strike and ZnO was still raging. A wave of torpedoes struck the Strike, knocking it back. Kira tried to get the Strike back up, when the ZnO, in it's sub mode, slammed into the Strike, taking it along for the ride. Suddenly, the Farsight appeared in the ZnO's path, it's sword drawn.

"What? A GINN?" Morassim said.

The ZnO was moving to fast for Morassim to stop it in time. The GINN held it's sword out like a spear. The blade impaled the left shoulder plate of the ZnO, but didn't manage to reach the arm underneath it. The Farsight was knocked down by the racing ZnO, breaking it's sword in two. The top section still in the shoulder plate while the lower half remained in the Farsight's hand. But as the Farsight fell down, it grabbed the Strike's leg, pulling from in front of the ZnO. "Finish him off." John said.

The ZnO transformed back, turning towards the two mobile suits. Kira fired the Sword Striker's grappling claw at the ZnO. The ZnO swatted it away as it charged towards the Strike. The ZnO's hand grabbed the Strike's head, pushing the Strike onto the sea floor with it's weight. It's phonon cannon charging.

"Oh no you don't." Kira said.

He drew the Strike's knives and drove them into the area between it's head and torpedo tubes. The Strike then, using a leg and both hands, threw the ZnO off of it. The ZnO exploded.

"Good work kid." John said. "Let's head back to the ship."

* * *

"Is the way back to the Archangel?" Cagalli said to herself as she tried to get her bearings.

That's when she spotted it. A ZAFT transport plane. "What's that doing out here? If they're reinforcements, then I have no choice but to shoot it down."

One of the ZAFT plane's turrets fired on her. Cagalli turned away, preparing for a strafing run.

"Damn. Hurry up and get into your mobile suit." the transport plane pilot said to Athrun. "If comes to it, we'll eject you and your mobile suit."

"But-"

"Go! We'll be a disgrace to ZAFT if we take our cargo down with us." the pilot said.

"Alright." Athrun said, heading for the cargo hold.

Cagalli scored a direct hit on the plane's right wing. But one of the turret's hit Cagalli's Sky Grasper. Both aircraft started to go down.

"Damn. We were fools to think we had air superiority." the ZAFT pilot said. "I hold it much longer. We have to eject you."

"What about you?" Athrun said as he power up the Aegis.

"Don't worry about us. We'll bail out once we lighten our load."

The cargo hatch opened and the Aegis was ejected from the plane. Elsewhere, Cagalli frantically struggled to keep her fighter in the air for as long as possible. She spotted an island. She knew her only chance was to land in the waters near it. If she survived the crash.

Cagalli screamed as the Sky Grasper hit the water, skimming across the waves. The fighter came to a stop in the shallow waters of the island.

Cagalli breathed a sigh of relief. "I made it."

She tried to get in touch with the Archangel. The fighter's radio was dead. Seeing no other choice, she swam the short distance to the island. Nothing left to do but wait for rescue...

* * *

Aboard the Archangel

An Hour Later

"Where did we lose Cagalli?" Murrue asked. "Anything on the radio?"

"No ma'am. Nothing." Miri said.

"There's too much radar interference." Chandra said. "So far, I can only confirm that she left the combat zone."

"Should we list her as MIA?" Natarle asked.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions, Ensign Badgiruel." Murrue said. "How much longer until sunset?"

"An hour ma'am."

"Once the maintenance on the Strike and the Raven are complete, send them out to search the area for her." Murrue said.

"But Captain-"

"If you object, then feel free to write it your report." Murrue said, interrupting Badgiruel. "I'm not giving up on her that quickly."

* * *

Several Hours Later

Chris yawned as he walked back to quarters. Their search for Cagalli had been fruitless. The ocean was a huge place. She could be anywhere. But Kira was insistent that keep on searching for her. And truth be told, if he wasn't so tired, he would have backed Kira up. But it was getting late and he was drained from the battle earlier today.

"Hi Chris." Flay said with smile, approaching him.

"Hey. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well...There's something I want to tell you...But I'm...I'm just not sure how to say it." she said hesitantly.

"Then say it."

"Well...I've been thinking about things since we left the desert and...I...I..."

_'What's she so nervous about?'_ he thought as Flay tried to speak.

Suddenly, Flay's lips met his own. He knew it was wrong. That they shouldn't be kissing. But all thoughts instantly melted away. He stood there, stunned for a few seconds before he responded. His arms wrapping around her and returning the kiss.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Sai had walked into the hallway at that very moment...

* * *

And that's it for now. And I'm almost half way done SEED! Now, as so of you may have figured, I'm gonna skip the island scenes with Cagalli and Athrun. Because nothing's changing and there's reason to type it up. Their time on the island plays out exactly like it did in the canon.

Please review!


	15. Phase Fourteen: Land of Peace

Yo everybody! Sorry for the delay. I ended up working on this chapter, the next two and the first two of Destiny. Speaking of Destiny, the things I have planned for it...Oh it's gonna be good. I really want to get to it now. Which is why all my other stories are pretty much on hold until I finish SEED.

Before I start the chapter, there's one thing I need help with. I have two mobile suits for Destiny I've come up with. But the problem is, unlike at of the other suits I've created, I can't come up with a proper name for either. The first is a fourth mobile suit stolen from Armory One. Unlike the Gaia, the Aybss and the Chaos, it can't transform. The second is a third nuclear-powered machine of Terminal. It posses a wide array of powerful close combat weapons, making it devastating up close. If anyone has any ideas on names for these machines, I'd love to hear them.

And now the Chris/Flay romance really gets going. Though I'm not all that sure of it personally. I don't think I'm all that good at that kind of stuff. I could be wrong, but I don't know.

**Phase Fourteen: Land of Peace**

After hours of being on duty with no break, Sai, Tolle, Miri, Flay, and Kuzzey were finally having their dinner. With the search for Cagalli now hold until morning, the Captain had ended their shifts for the night. While everyone else was devouring their meals, Flay was hardly touching her food. "What's wrong, Flay?" Sai asked.

"Nothing...It's nothing." she replied.

Sai knew something was bothering her, but didn't press it. Ever since they left the desert, she had been distant from just about everyone. Expect for Chris. Sai might have been a bit concerned about what was going on between the two of them, if it hadn't been for Chris's words to him after they first landed on Earth, when he was first concerned about the two of them being alone together.

"_I have no intention of stealing Flay from you, Sai." Chris said. "I'm just trying to help her out with her grief over her father's death. To are arranged to be married. I'm not gonna come between you two. You have my word."_

And he managed to brighten up Flay's mood after her father's death. So he was thankful to Chris for his help. And yeah, maybe a little jealous at the amount of time Flay had lately been spending with Chris.

"Excuse me. I'll be right back." Flay said, standing up.

"Flay? We're you going?"

"Ah...I just need to do something." she said, heading for the doorway.

"What?"

"...Nothing Sai." Flay said as she left.

Now Sai was growing worried. Why was Flay acting so strange lately? Sai couldn't sit back anymore. He was going to find out what was bothering her. He sat up. "Excuse me. "I'm going to see what's bothering her." he told the others.

He left the mess hall. He wasn't sure where she went. He figured he'd start at the crew quarters first. A couple minutes later, he rounded a corner and saw...Flay and Chris embracing and kissing.

Sai was shocked. His Flay was kissing one of friends. A friend that swore that he won't try anything like this.

They finally broke free of their kiss, but here still in a loose hug. Flay's back was to him. "Flay...I...I..." Chris mumbled, trying speak. Then he looked up and saw him. "Sai..." he said in horror and guilt.

Flay broke the hug and turned around. Her expression was the same as his. But Sai was too hurt and betrayed to noticed. Sai found himself at a loss for words. "Flay...Chris...Why...WHY?!" he shouted. "Were you lying to me this whole time, Chris?!! How long have you been doing this behind my back?!!"

Chris knew he should have let Flay kiss him. He should have pushed her away. But he hadn't. Instead, he kissed her back. As much as he wanted to deny it. To ignore it. To reject it. He had fallen for her. He didn't know how or why he had fallen in love with her, but he realized he didn't care how or why.

God...It was like some bad soap opera.

"Sai...I'm sorry." Chris said, trying to reason with him. "I never wanted to come between you two...But...I...I...I never meant to fall in love with her...It just happened-"

"SHUT UP!!!" Sai screamed, tackling Chris.

The two fell to the ground, Sai landing on top of him. Chris raised his head, only for Sai's fist to hit him. More punches hit his face. Sai knew nothing about fighting, in fact, he was pretty much your average nerd. Smart, not all that physically strong. But he was furious, fueling his strength. After receiving a few more blows to the head, Chris grabbed one of Sai's incoming fists and punched Sai in face, knocking Sai off of him. Chris stood up, wiping the blood from his nose. "Listen to me, Sai. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted to come between the two of you. It just happen-GAH!"

Sai's leg shot up, hitting him in the place that hurts regardless of whether one was Coordinator or a Natural. Now he was beginning to get mad. Sai just wasn't listening to anything he said. Sai got up and punched him again. Chris grabbed his fist and punched Sai in the stomach. Sai stumbled back and Chris followed up with more punches. One last blow to Sai's face and he fell to the ground. "I think you've had enough." Chris said, leaning up against a wall, breathing heavily.

Sai was lying on the ground, breathing just as heavily. Flay just stood there with an expression of horror and guilt on her face. "Well...Are you two done slapping each around? Or are you going to go at it a bit more?" John said, standing some feet behind him.

"I'm done." Chris said.

Sai didn't say anything.

"You teens and your hormones." John said, moving towards the two. "You're almost as bad as Cagalli. Almost."

He helped Sai up to his feet. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. Girl....Flay, right?"

"Ah...Yeah..."

"Why don't you take Chris and help get him cleaned up."

A few minutes later, they were in the men's washroom. He was leaning over a sink while Flay was wiping the blood from his face with a damp cloth. His lip and nose were bleeding. There were a few bruises forming on his face as well.

Chris sighed. "We shouldn't have done that. You're arranged to marry Sai. And I'm his friend. I swore this won't happen." he said. "Yet it did. I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want to admit it when it did happen. But the truth is, I began to feel something for you."

"I've realized, for a while now, that my feelings for Sai were never truly love. I thought those feelings were love, but when I started to spend more and more time with you, I found myself feeling true feelings of love and it wasn't for Sai. It was for you." Flay said. "But I didn't want to hurt Sai like that. I wanted to break it up with gently."

"Looks like it's a little too late for that." Chris said with a sigh.

* * *

The Deserted Island

The Next Morning

Athrun stared at the dead fire while the girl sat at the opposite side of the cave. It had been an interesting night with the girl that had forced his plane down, to say the least. After several attempts to kill each out and several heated arguments, the two had come to a quiet little ceasefire. The funny thing was that despite the fact they spent the night together in cave, he had no idea what her name was.

Suddenly, comm device on his wrist started beeping. Someone was trying to reach him. Athrun got up and headed for the Aeigs's cockpit. He opened up the comm line. A familiar voice came on the line. "Athrun. Can you hear me? Please respond."

"Nicol, is that you?"

"Yeah! Don't worry Athrun. We can get a fix on your position from this transmission."

"What is it?!" the girl called from outside.

"The radio's working!" he replied.

Suddenly, there was a different beeping. "What the?" Athrun said, glancing at the screen.

Someone else had picked up on the distress signal and heading this way by sea. But the ZAFT rescue team wouldn't get here until after them. Athrun climbed out of the cockpit. "A ZAFT team is coming to pick me up. But another ship picked up the signal and heading this way. They're coming this way on sea from the direction of your fighter." he said. "I have to hide the Aegis before they get here. I don't want this place to become a battlefield."

"Right." the girl said. "I better get back to my aircraft before they get here then."

She paused for a moment, unsure of what to say before she headed back to her Sky Grasper. So she settled for a simple. "Bye."

Athrun watched the girl leave for her aircraft. "Hey!" he called out. "Are you sure you're not with the Earth Forces?"

The girl turned back. "No. I'm not."

_'There not even soldiers, yet...'_ Athrun thought as images of Kira and images of his brief encounter with the Raven's pilot filled his mind.

"Hey!" the girl shouted, distracting him from his thoughts. "I'm Cagalli! What's your name?!"

"Athrun!" he called back.

Cagalli nodded and headed back to fighter while Athrun climbed back into the Aegis, to move it to place where he could hide it for awhile. Until Cagalli's rescue party left the area and Nicol and the others came for him.

* * *

A Few Days Later

The Archangel shuttered as another shot from the Buster impacted it's hull. The Strike and the Farsight, atop the the Archangel, fired at the mobile suit. Smoke was pouring out of several of it's thrusters. The crimson GINN fired it's railgun at the ship. A pair of rounds impacted the hull, further damaging the battered ship. The Raven, in it's mobile armor mode, chased after the Guul mounted GINN as a pair of Sky Grapers chased after the Buster.

"Nicol, Saul, flank the ship and target it's engines." Athrun ordered.

If they crippled it's engines, the legged ship would be dead in the water. They'd have no choice but to surrender.

"Target the Guuls! The flight platforms!" John said, firing his rifle. "They can fight us if they can't stay in the air."

The Blitz and the Surge raced around the sides of the Archangel, avoiding or shooting down the missiles that were fired at them. Nicol fired off his lancer darts at one of the Archangel's Valiants, destroying it. The mobile suits then fired on the ship's engines. The warship shook violently. Suddenly, the Raven appeared above them. "You're not taking out this ship!" Chris shouted, transforming the Raven back into mobile suit mode.

The Raven fell like a rock on the Blitz. Chris kicked the black mobile suit off it's Guul while landing on it. Nicol screamed as he fell into the ocean. "Nicol!" Saul shouted, turning to the Raven as it turned to him.

The Raven ducked and fired as Saul fired his beam rifle. The beams flew over the crouching machine while a pair of rounds tore through the Guul. The Surge joined the Blitz, falling into the water. The Raven drove a beam saber through the Guul, destroying it and transformed back into it's mobile armor mode.

The Duel swooped down on the Archangel, firing on the Strike. "I'm gonna get you this time, Strike!!"

The Strike fired back, hitting the Duel's Gaul. The Guul exploded, but Yzak simply let the Duel continue falling towards the Archangel.

"That's one stubborn pilot." John said, leaping up into the air.

Yzak dropped his rifle and reached for a beam saber. But he wasn't fast enough.

"But too much stubbornness can be a weakness!" he shouted, kicking the falling Duel.

"Gah! Damn you!!" Yzak shouted as he flew into the water.

The Farsight started to fall towards the water as well when the Raven picked it up and dropped it off on the Archangel. "Thanks." John said. "Keep on firing on the Guuls. We can win this."

While this was happening, a large Orb naval fleet approached the battle. The Archangel and the mobile suits were nearing Orb territorial waters. The Orb flagship hailed all of the combatants.

"This is a warning to the Earth Forces warship, it's mobile suits and all ZAFT mobile suits. You are currently approaching Orb Union territory. Alter your course immediately. In defense of our neutrality, we strictly prohibit all armed ship, aircraft and mobile suits from entering our territory. Turn your forces at once." the Orb Commander said.

Zane smirked. It was over. The legged ship was doomed. Either they would sink the ship or Orb would do it for them.

_'Damn. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. We stay on our path and Orb blows us out of the water. But even if we turned away, with the damage we've received, we won't be able to survive the next attack.'_ John thought.

"I repeat. Alter your course immediately. This is your last warning. If you do not, we will exercise our right to defend our nation."

Cagalli, who had entered the bridge with Kisaka, said, "Don't listen to him. Keep on heading towards Orb."

She grabbed Kuzzey's headset. "Who the hell do you think you are, saying that crap after seeing the mess we're in! The Archangel is going to enter Orb territorial waters, do not attack us!"

Athrun immediately recognized the voice on radio as the same as the girl he spent that night on the island with.

"Ah...Hell..." Chris said. "She's gonna piss off the Orb military and then we're really gonna be screwed."

"Who is this?" the Commander asked, his face appearing on the screen.

"Who the hell are you?!" Cagalli shouted back. "If you can't figure out who I am, then contact your superior! Contact my father! Contact Uzumi Nara Athha!"

This announcement stunned everyone. The crew of the Archangel, the Orb fleet, the ZAFT forces, everyone.

"I am Cagalli Yula Athha!"

"What?! She's the daughter of the Lion of Orb?!" Chris said.

"Apparently, our Overemotional Goddess, is in reality an Overemotional Princess." John said. "I didn't see that one coming. Of course, she could just be trying to confuse them to the point that they'll let us enter their territory just to straighten things out."

"I don't know what kind of game your playing, but there's no way the daughter of the Lord Athha would be on that warship." the Commander said, closing the line.

"Like we're gonna let you enter their territory in the first place!" Dearka said, firing on the Archangel's engines.

"Damn pest!" Mu said, firing at the mobile suit.

Dearka fired at the Sky Grasper as it flew past him. Dearka took aim at the fighter. "I got you now!"

But before he could squeezed the trigger, the second Sky Grasper, armed with the Sword Striker, came up on him from behind. The large blade extended, ready to slice the Buster in half. "Shit!" Dearka cursed as he tried to maneuver out of it's path.

Dearka managed to pull the Buster out of it's path. But the anti-ship sword sliced off his Guul's right wing, causing it and the Buster to fall to the ocean.

"Yeah! I got him!" Liz cheered.

But the damage was done. The Archangel could no longer maintain it's altitude with the damage it sustained, forcing it to land on the ocean. Specifically, in Orb territorial waters. The Orb fleet immediately started to take up positions alongside the damage vessel, preparing to fire on it.

"It seems we have no other choice." Kisaka said to Murrue "Don't worry. The gunners of Orb's Second Defense Fleet are know for their accuracy."

"Since you have disregarded our warnings, we have no choice but to open fire."

The Orb fleet fired on the Archangel. The Raven landed on the Archangel's hull, alongside the Strike and the Farsight. "This can't be good." Chris said as rounds struck the waters, dangerously close to the Archangel.

"Actually, they're not trying to hit us. It looks like things may just be turning in our favor." John said as the bombardment rained around them.

Both Athrun and Zane weren't stupid enough to try something now. Their only choice was to fall back with the others.

Once the ZAFT forces were long gone from the area and they had gotten a bit deeper into Orb waters, the Orb warships stopped firing at them and instead, escorted the Archangel into an hidden dock on Onogoro.

"This dock is owned by Orb and Morgenroete." Kisaka explained. "Not even satellites will be able to locate the Archangel once it enters the dock."

"First off, I want some explanations." Murrue said. "Just who exactly are you?"

"Ledonir Kisaka." Kisaka said, snapping to attention. "Captain in the 21st Airborne Division of the Orb Military. I am Lady Cagalli's bodyguard."

"Then you really are Chief Representative Athha's daughter."

"Yes." Cagalli said.

Murrue sighed. "What's going to happen now?"

"I believe it would be better to ask the person who'll be coming here shortly. Orb's leader, Uzumai Nara Athha." Kisaka said.

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

An Hour Later

"This announcement is nothing but a pile of crap!" Yzak shouted, slamming his hands on the table.

"I can't believe they expect us to believe that the legged ship has left their territory." Dearka said. "They're treating us like fools. Maybe it's because we have a raw commander."

"Dearka. Don't blame Athrun for this." Nicol said.

"Yeah Dearka." Saul said. "If we had stayed, they would have blown us up as well."

"But at the same time, we cannot allow the legged ship to escape yet again." Zane said. "We should have finished them off when we had the chance."

"That's all irrelevant." Athrun said. "You can't deny that Orb has given us their official response. Complain and call them lairs all you want, it won't change the situation."

"What?!" Yzak shouted.

"This isn't like Heliopolis. Orb's military might and advanced technology is great for us to simply force our way in." Athrun said. "If we forced our way in, it would only be a diplomatic nightmare for ZAFT and we'd be lucky to escape from there."

"Your analysis is impressively rational, Athrun...Oops...Commander Zala." Yzak sarcastically said.

"Hold on. Are you saying we should just accept their word and leave?"

"We'll ask Carpentaria to apply some official pressure. If that does not resolve the situation quickly enough, we'll sneak in." Athrun said. "Does that meet with your approval?"

"Ah...So we can pinpoint the ship's location." Nicol said.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. So long as this doesn't turn out like Heliopolis." Saul said.

"I agree." Zane said. "If we find proof that they're hiding the legged ship than that changes everything."

"Very well. I'll go along with this. For now. But if it were up to me, we'd be forcing our way in. I can't disagree with the son of Committee Chairman Zala, now can I?" Yzak said, leaving the room with Dearka. "Who knows, maybe I'll get a chance to see the face of the Strike's pilot."

Athrun's expression immediately sadden. He knew Kira was piloting the Strike. And once again he felt himself torn between his duty to ZAFT and his friendship to Kira.

* * *

Orb Parliament Building

Onogoro Island

Murrue, Natarle, Mu and John had been led to an empty conference room, where they waited. The door opened. Uzumi Nara Athha and an older man entered the room. The older man was wearing an Orb Military uniform, a General based on the markings and appeared to in his sixties but was in excellent shape. He was taller than Athha and quite muscular. His body was that of a lifelong soldier's. He had short, gray hair and matching thick, bushy mustache. His eyes were a familiar grayish-green.

"Hello. I am Uzumi Nara Athha. And this is my close friend and advisor..."

"General Samuel Dante. Currently serving as the liaison between Morgenroete and the Orb military." the man said.

"Dante?" Mu said. "As in-"

"Yes. I am the grandfather of Christopher and Elizabeth Dante." Samuel said. "You have my thanks for watching over them. As well as my daughter-in-law. With the death of my youngest son, they're the only family I have left."

"You're welcome." Murrue said.

"Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, it's time to deal with the matters at hand." Uzumi said. "Our official statement is that our naval forces fired upon the Archangel, driving it from our waters."

"Do you really expect ZAFT or those pilot perusing us to believe that?" John asked.

"No. But they cannot disprove what we have said. And it is unlikely that they'll try any military action without concrete proof that we are lying to them." Athha said.

John nodded. "Because if they didn't, they'd be invading Orb without a legitimate reason. Something ZAFT can't afford to do with their manpower."

"Exactly." Samuel said. "If they attack us, they'll have to draw vital forces from other theaters of war. Which is something ZAFT can't afford to do here on Earth. For all their superior mobile suits and technology, they still lack the numbers necessary to truly defeat the Earth Alliance."

"You didn't save us just because we had your daughter on board, or his grandchildren for that matter, did you?" Mu asked.

"Do you honestly believe that either of us would risk that fate of a nation and it's people for the sake of three children?" Uzumi said.

"Excuse me, if I implied that sir."

"Things would be so much easier if it were only that simple." Athha said. "Heliopolis. The children of this nation that volunteered and ended up joining the Earth Forces. The success of G-Units in battle after battle. I've thought over this again and again. Would it have been wiser to just let that ship and it's mobile suits sink? And even at this very moment, I'm still wondering if I've made the right choice."

"Lord Uzumi, I'm terribly sorry. About Heliopolis and the children. I know my words on this matter aren't an official apology, but from a personal stand point, I am deep sorry for what happened." Murrue said.

"No. Forget it. There's plenty of blame for us to share. Since this is also an inherent problem of our nation. The reason we maintain our stance as a neutral nation is that we don't want to face Naturals or Coordinators as enemies. We can not carry out these intentions without power. And yet with power, we become a target. I'm sure, as soldiers, you don't want to have this type of discussion."

"In any case, we should explain to you why we didn't let your ship be destroyed." Samuel said. "We would like all of the Strike's and the Raven's combat data as well as the loan of their pilots, my grandson and the Coordinator, Kira Yamato, for technical cooperation with Morgenroete. We're willing to provide you with extensive assistance with your repairs if you agree."

Murrue hesitated. "Lord Urumi, we'd like some time to discuss the matter."

"Very well then. We both have some matters to attend to." Atha said. "You'll be escorted back to your ship for now. We'll come by tonight for your answer."

* * *

The Archangel

A number of people were gathered in crew quarters of the Archangel, watching Cagalli, now clad in a dress, fighting with a servant as they started to leave the ship. Chris and Flay were at the back of the group, avoiding Sai as much as they could. Neither of them had spoken with Sai since that night and had pretty much avoided him.

"Holy crap!" Chris said. "She's a girl!"

Most of the crew started laughing or chuckling at his comment. Cagalli growled. "Why the hell do you people keep on saying that?!"

"Because it's amusing." Chris said with a grin.

* * *

Captain's Quarters

The Archangel

A Short While Later

"I'm against this." Natarle said. "This nation is dangerous."

"Here we go again." John said under his breath.

"And what do you propose?" Mu asked. "Getting off here and swimming to Alaska."

"No, of course not. That's not what I'm suggesting." Natarle said. "I think that we should pay for the repairs."

"I understand what you're getting at. But..."

"But that won't be the end of it. They never mentioned it to us, but I'm sure they're under tremendous pressure from ZAFT. Yet they still made the decision to help us. You realize why that is, don't you?" Murrue said.

"Indeed." John said, sipping his coffee. "They must be having some kind of problem with their own mobile suits. Something that those kids apparently fixed. Don't worry, I'll go with them and keep an eye on them. If you agree, of course."

"We have little choice but to accept their offer."

"Whatever you say Captain, seeing as I don't have any authority to do anything about it. But this matter will be going in my report." Natarle said before leaving the room.

"Man. And I thought Diana was a cold woman." John said, downing the last of his coffee. "But that woman is like a glacier."

* * *

Early the Next Morning

Unbeknownst to the majority of Orb's citizens, a pair of mobile suits were walking towards the Morgenroete Headquarters in dawn hours. Chris yawned. "Man. Would it have been that hard for them to get a couple of transport trucks for us? We could have easily gone through the front door rather than this twisting side route at five in morning."

John, who was riding in the car leading them to the facility, laughed. "I suppose Lord Uzumi wishes to keep this as low key as possible."

"Why does it matter?" Chris asked. "By the end of the day, everyone at Morgenroete will know we're here."

"True. But it's better to be safe than sorry." John said. "We don't know if the Le Creuset Team bought Orb's story or if they're out there, waiting for us. Personally, I doubt they bought it. They're waiting for us to leave Orb. Those guys aren't the kind to just give up. Especially if that masked creep, Le Creuset is with them."

"So they'll be waiting for us when we leave Orb, then?" Chris asked.

"Likely." John said. "When we're done here, get yourselves some R and R. Cause it's unlikely that we'll get a break until we reach JOSH-A. Those guys will likely be hounding us all the way to JOSH-A."

Chris yawned again. "Meh. Whatever. Let's get this whole thing over with."

A short while later, the Strike and Raven were secured in a Morgenroete hanger, deep underground. Johanna Dante and another woman, clad in a Morgenroete crew chief uniform approached the trio. "Hello. I'm Erica Simmons. Welcome to Morgenroete." the woman greeted.

"So this is the heart of Morgenroete." John said. "Where the Gundams were first conceived."

"Yes." Erica said, leading the into another hanger. "Though they were built in Heliopolis, this where it all began."

"Oh that reminds me. I have something for you." John said, searching through a pocket of his coat.

He pulled out a disc and handed it to Erica. "What is this?" she asked.

"When we were in the desert, I studied the schematics of the Strike and the Raven, and came up with some...interesting things. However, I can't do anything with what I've come up with, so I'm handing it over to those that can use it."

"You're an ex-ZAFT commander, right?" she asked, inspecting the disc.

"Yes. Don't worry, I have no intention in rating out Orb to ZAFT or anyone else. Or handing over Orb technology to the PLANTs." John said. "You hold in your hands the only copy of what I've made."

Erica handed the disc to Johanna. "See what's on the disc for me." she said.

Johanna nodded. "Right."

Johanna left as they entered the hanger. Inside the hanger were mobile suits. Ones they had never seen before. They were similar to Strike in appearance. But were clearly a new model. Kira, Chris and John all stared at the machines in amazement. "Admiring the Astrays? They're impressive, but no where near as impressive as your machines." a man voice called out. "It's been awhile Chris."

Chris's eyes immediately widened. He turned to the large man in an Orb uniform approaching them. "Grandpa?"

Samuel smiled and hugged his grandson. "It's good see you alive and well. When I heard what happened at Heliopolis, I feared the worst." he said.

Samuel turned to Kira. "And you must be Kira Yamato. I am General Samuel Dante. Chris's grandfather." he said, shaking Kira's hand.

Kira noticed something odd about his gaze. But he couldn't place it. "Ah, hi."

Samuel turned to John. "I don't know you."

"Officially, I'm Victor Cain. Unofficially, I'm John Alaric."

"ZAFT's Black Hawk? They say that you and Tiger are dead." Samuel said.

John sighed. "I'm alive. But Andy's dead."

"Ah. General Dante, I wasn't sure if you were going to join us this morning." Erica said.

Samuel grunted. "You know how politicians and bureaucrats are. Constantly arguing and passing blame on everyone else. There are those that still want us kick the Archangel out as means to avoid a war with ZAFT. Damn, cowardly Seirans. Say what you want about the Sahaku, at least they have some backbone in them." he said. "If war comes to Orb, it will come and there'll be nothing we can do to prevent it."

"Have you explained the Astrays yet?" Samuel asked.

"No. I was about to."

"I'll do it." Samuel cleared his throat. "These are the M1 Astrays. A mass produced mobile suit from Morgenroete that will serve as Orb's primary frontline mobile suit. As you can see, it shares many characteristics with the Strike. And Morgenroete is currently in the design phase of another machine that will share characteristics with the Raven."

"Now you see the true face of Orb. The so called neutral nation." Cagalli said, approaching the group.

Kira, Chris and John all noticed the red mark on her right cheek. Samuel chuckled. "I see the stubborn little Lion Cub of Orb had a fight with the Lion of Orb again."

Cagalli scowled at him. "These machines are to be Orb's protectors." Samuel said. "As you know, Orb will not attack another nation. Or allow another nation to attack it. Nor will it become involved in the conflicts of other nations. With these machines, we have the power to ensure that just belief."

"That's the kind of nation Orb is. Or at least, that's what it was suppose to be until my father betrayed it." Cagalli said.

Samuel sighed. "Again with this. You're as stubborn as your father. Not even he can knock some sense into you." he said "You know that isn't true. He never knew about the mobile suits being built at Heliopolis-"

"Shut up! That is no an acceptable excuse! He was the Chief Representative!" Cagalli shouted. "Not knowing about the matter is crime as well."

"Which why he stepped down as Chief Representative, handing it over to your uncle." Samuel said.

"Like that changed anything."

"You just don't get, do you? Orb needs Lord Uzumi right now." Samuel said. "Ever since this war started, Orb has been in a difficult position. With our Mass Driver and advanced technology, both ZAFT and the Earth Forces have pressured us to choose a side in this war. A weaker leader have buckled under the pressure and submitted to one of the sides, pulling Orb into this war. Lord Uzumi has chosen the only path that stays true to Orb's principles."

Samuel turned and started walking away. "Come. Let us get to work and leave this stubborn, foolish, little girl."

Cagalli let out a growl but ultimately, followed him and the others out of the hanger. A short while later, they entered the control room of the Mobile Suit Testing Chamber. A trio of Astrays were standing in the Testing Chamber. Erica put on a headset. "Asagi, Juri, Mayura, begin your drills."

The mobile suits activated and proceed to move through their exercises. Movements were slow and pathetic. It was like they were moving underwater. Cagalli sighed. "Those three haven't changed at all. They're still just as slow."

"Actually, they're twice as fast now." Erica said. "Though you do bring up our problem. Though we have the mobile suits, we're still struggling to come up with an OS that allows a Natural pilot it on a similar level as Coordinators."

"And you need our help because we both rewrote the Operating Systems of our machines." Chris said

"Exactly. We need your assistance in this matter." Erica said.

"Okay. Let's get to work then."

* * *

Elsewhere, a pair of fishermen waited on some rocks on the shore. A group of scuba divers emerged from the waters and approached them. The lead diver pulled off his mask. "Athrun Zala, of the Le Creuset Team."

One of the fishermen smiled. "Welcome to the Land of Peace." the ZAFT spy said.

* * *

Yay! I'm now done the first half of SEED! Now everything I've been waiting to do can now begin.

As always, please Review!


	16. Phase Fifteen: Turning Point

Yo everybody! I had hoped that I would have had this chapter up over the weekend, but I had become quite obsessed with the Destiny sequel for this story. In fact, because of that, I have most of the first two chapters of Destiny as well as a one-shot that will take place between Seed and Destiny and introduces three of the OCs I'm adding to Destiny. But enough about Destiny and on with the latest chapter of Seed.

**Phase Fifteen: Turning Point**

Morgenroete

An Hour Later

"You wanted to see me, Johanna?" Erica asked as she entered the room.

"Yes. You have to see this." Johanna said, motioning to her computer.

"Oh. What did Mr. Alaric come up with?"

"Some improvements for the Strike and the Raven, but that's not the only thing. He's come up with blueprints for new Striker Packs."

"What?" Erica said, staring at the screen. "Sniper Aile Striker. Raven Striker. Heavy-Arms Striker. Deep Striker. Amazing...He certainly knows his way around a mobile suit. But then, could we expect anything less from the Black Hawk of ZAFT?"

"They're little rough and will need to be hammered out an expert before we can begin constructing prototypes. But other than that, we can build these Packs."

"Yes. But the Archangel will be gone before we'd be able to finish any of these." Erica said.

"True. But we can use these for blueprints to create specialized Astrays and we certainly can use the Packs with the Athena." Johanna said.

"If they approve it."

"We should be able to get the prototype approved for production." Johanna said. "The Seirans and their supporters wouldn't like it, who cares about those arrogant fools."

* * *

The Archangel

A Few Hours Later

Chris whistled as he walked through the Archangel's corridors. They had taken a break for lunch. Liz and the others had left to visit their parents. Or in Liz's case, their grandfather.

Chris walked past an opened door when spotted something in the corner of his eye. He stopped and glanced in the open room. Flay was sitting on her bunk, just staring into space.

"Flay? What are you still doing here? Why aren't you with the others?" Chris said, entering the room. "I though your parents had a house in Orb."

"Yes. There is a house. But no one's living there now." Flay said in a depressed tone. "My mother died when I was little."

"Oh..." Chris said, scratching the back of his head.

He wasn't really sure what to say. It was kind of an awkward situation. Then he thought of something. "Tonight, my grandfather's taking my sister and me out for dinner since I'm busy today, working with Kira and Morgenroete, to properly visit with him. Why don't you come with us?"

"No. That's alright. I don't want to be a third wheel." Flay replied.

"You won't be." Chris said. "Come on, Flay. Get off the ship for a while and take a break form everything."

"Alright. I'll go with you."

* * *

The Bridge

"Under the present circumstances, our chief concern would be Panama. Carpentaria is buzzing with activity and there's rumors of an upcoming, massive ZAFT operation." Kisaka said, clad in an Orb Military uniform.

"How reliable is this information?" Natarle asked.

"I'm not sure." Kisaka said. "Orb is in a difficult position. We want intelligence but we don't want to stir up a hornet's nest either."

"But it would make sense, if there's major activity in Carpentaria, then there's four places they'd attack with a large force from there, Kaohsiung, Panama, JOSH-A and Orb. Kaohsiung is already under their control and they don't have a good enough reason to attack Orb. That leaves Panama and JOSH-A. Logically, they'd want to take Panama and cut off their forces in space and on the Moon." John said. "Personally, I'd go for the Earth Forces' heart, JOSH-A, and cripple their central command. But ZAFT would have to gather a massive number of forces for such an assault, leaving many of their holdings on Earth vulnerable in the process. Especially if it turns into a long siege. Most of ZAFT's Admiralty wouldn't dare to risk that much for such an operation. They'll attack Panama and take the Mass Driver. Signaling the end of the Earth Forces in space. Of course, if Panama falls, it will cause major problems for Orb as well."

"How so?" Murrue asked.

"Think about it. Three of the Mass Drivers under ZAFT control. The only remaining one under Orb's control. The Earth Forces would see Orb's as the easier of the four Mass Drivers to take." John said. "They'll force Orb to give them control of the Mass Driver. One way or another."

"Regardless of their plans, this will work in your advantage. Most of the ZAFT force in the area are at Carpentaria at the moment, leaving your path to Alaska relativity clear." Kisaka said.

"What about the team that was pursing us?" Murrue asked.

"We haven't detected any ZAFT ships in the area. They've likely either given up or have been called back." Kisaka said. "There was a lot of talking on the diplomatic side."

"Still. We should prepared for anything once we leave Orb waters." John said. "I doubt we'll have a clear shot at JOSH-A. I recommend that when we leave Orb waters, we go to Alert Level Two until about six hours after we leave. If they're waiting for us, they'll attack in the first couple of hours."

* * *

Morgenroete

A Few Hours Later

Chris typed away at the Raven's console, giving the Raven's operating system a thorough check. They had managed to finish creating the OS for Naturals a short while ago. It still needed a few tweaks before it'd be ready for use in combat. But Erica Simmons had told them that they'd perfect the OS over the next couple of days as they put the system through it's paces.

So they were now aiding the crews from the Archangel bring their mobile suits back up to a hundred percent.

"Hey kid!" Murdoch called out. "We just finished reassembling the railgun. You're gonna need to check the targeting alignment to make sure everything's in sync. And we're gonna replace the Raven's faceplate now!"

"Leave it!" Chris shouted back.

"What?! Why?!"

"Cause it gives him some personality!"

"What?! But-"

"I know it weakens the head's phase shift! I don't care! Leave it!"

"Whatever." Murdoch grumbled. "Alright guys, you heard him, we're not replacing the faceplate!"

Chris shook his head. There was no reason to replace the faceplate. True, it was weakness, but it added character to the Raven. And he didn't see any reason to replace it.

Though there was something bugging him. It wasn't with the Raven. But rather Kira. He had heard that he had rejected the offer to visit his parents. He found it stupid. Who knows when the next time Kira would be able to see his parent? So why not take this moment to see them and relax for a while? It just didn't make sense. But he was going to find out why.

Chris climbed out of the Raven's cockpit. He walked over to the Strike. He stuck his head into the cockpit of the Strike. Kira was typing away with Birdie perched on his shoulder. "Hey Kira, heard you've decided not see your parents while you're here. How come?"

Kira didn't answer him.

"Well?"

"If I met them now, all they'd see was soldier." Kira replied, not taking his eyes from the screen.

Chris rolled his eyes. "C'mon Kira. Do honestly believe that they'd see you as anything other than their son?" he said. "Take tonight off and go see them."

"Day in and day out, this is all I do." Kira said, typing away at the Strike's console, his tone tired and weary. "I fight battles in mobile suits and then help out with their development and maintenance. Why? Because I can."

_'Okay...This is starting to creep me out. I think he's been spending a little bit too much time in the Strike's cockpit. He really needs to take some time off and get some air.'_

"As soon as we leave Orb, I'll be going into battle against ZAFT again."

"Yeah. But so will the rest of us." Chris said. "It's not like you're the only one out there. But what's really bugging you Kira?"

Kira paused for a moment before answering. "I'm afraid that if I see my parents, I'd ask them why?"

"Why what?"

"Why the hell did they make me a Coordinator?"

"What the hell kind of excuse is that?!" Chris said. "You think that you're the only person that's doubted themselves? Do you think that you're the only person that hates going into battle? Blaming it on being a Coordinator and your parents for making you a Coordinator, is disgusting. Besides, if you were a Natural, chances are you would have died at Heliopolis."

The two were silent for a moment.

"You know something, Kira. I actually envy you. Despite what you think about yourself and whatever you think about me, I envy you."

Kira looked up at him. "What? Why?"

"Because you _can _visit your parents." Chris said, stepping away from the cockpit. "You might want to remember that."

Suddenly, Birdie flew off Kira's shoulder, leaving the hanger. Kira climbed out of the cockpit and followed his mechanical pet.

* * *

Outside of Morgenroete

Members of the Zala Team had gathered outside of Morgenroete. They had spent the entire day searching for some of the legged ship. But their search had been fruitless.

"Security's tighter here than at the naval base." Yzak said.

"What do you expect?" Zane said. "Morgenroete is the heart of Orb's military power. They would protect it more than military base under their control."

Yzak nodded his head. He turned to Saul. "Saul, any luck on hacking into their system?"

Saul shrugged. "It's multi-layered. I can crack it. It'll just take time. And the proper equipment."

"It might be easier to capture someone and use them to infiltrate the facility." Athrun said.

"Like a wolf in sheep's clothing." Nicol said.

"I don't know. That sounds a lot more dangerous and difficult." Saul said. "It may be-"

"Birdie." a voice chirped, interrupting him.

A small, green mechanical bird was flying towards the group. Athrun knew that bird. He had built it with his own hands. He extended his hand, letting Birdie land on his hand.

"What is it?" Yzak asked.

"A robotic bird." Nicol said, just as surprised as the rest.

"Amazing. That someone could make a small robotic bird that's capable of flight like that." Saul said.

"Birdie! Birdie!" another voice called out.

A brown haired boy, about the same age as them, clad in a Morgenroete uniform, wondered towards where they were standing.

"That bird must belong to him." Nicol commented.

"Guess so." Saul said.

The boy spotted them and approached the fence. Athrun, in turn, approached the boy and the fence.

"Is this your's?" Athrun asked.

Of course, he already knew the answer. Just as he knew who this boy was.

"Yes. Thank you." the boy replied, extending his hand to the fence.

The bird jumped from Athrun's hand to the boy's. The two stared at each other for a moment. "Come on, let's go!" Yzak called out as he and the others got into their car.

Athrun turned and started to walk to the car. "It was a gift from an old friend." the boy called out.

Athrun stopped and glanced back. "It's a very valuable gift from a valuable friend." the boy added.

Athrun was sure what to say. He stood there for a moment. He then turned away. "I see." was all that Athrun could manage to say before returning to the car.

He just couldn't face Kira, knowing once the legged ship left Orb, they'd be enemies again.

* * *

Later That Night

"I remember his first karate lesson." Samuel said. "He was so nervous that first time that when someone delivered that first little tap to the head, he started bawling like a little baby."

Flay, Liz and Samuel all started laughing. "Ha ha ha." an annoyed Chris said. "Just to let you know, I was five when that happened."

"Still it was quite funny." Samuel said. "In fact, I believe I still have the recording of that, if Miss Allster would like to see it."

"Oh no." Chris said. "You're not showing her that."

"Come on, why shouldn't your girlfriend see it?"

"Cause she doesn't need to see it or hear any of the other embarrassing moments of my life."

Samuel chuckled. "Alright. Alright. I'll stop." he said.

"You know, I find this quite nostalgic. This restaurant has been around for since I was your age. I had my first date with your grandmother here and I would later propose to her here. Your father took your mother here on their first date. As did your uncle with your aunt. And now you've brought your first date here. Whom, if the tradition continues, will one day become your wife."

Both teens' faces immediately reddened. "This isn't really a date with you and Elizabeth here."

The old man chuckled. "All things considering, that's not bad. I got your grandmother to go out with me after she almost ran me over with a car."

"What? You're kidding." Liz said.

"Nope. She didn't want anything to do with until she almost hit me with her car. She went out with once as a pity date and to her surprise, she actually had a good time and then we went out again. And the rest is history."

Samuel let out a sigh, lost in his memories. "Cherish these moments." he said. "Cherish them. Because you never know what tomorrow brings. And you'll never know when all you have left of a person is memories of them."

"Ah well, enough of the past." he said. "So tell me, Miss Allster, why don't you tell me about yourself."

* * *

Residence of the Athha Family

A Few Days Later

Cagalli finished packing the last of her stuff as the door to her bedroom opened. "Cagalli." her father said as he entered. "Do you intend to go along with that ship?"

"I do." Cagalli answered.

"I see. So you are going to fight the PLANTs as an Earth Alliance soldier. Are you really that eager to go to war?"

"No! Of course not!" Cagalli said. "It's not like I want to fight!"

"Very well then, why?" Uzumi asked.

"I want to help them out! And I want to do whatever I can to end this damn war!"

"You think fighting will end this war?"

"No. But-"

"If you were to kill someone's husband in battle, then his wife will despise for that. And if you kill someone's son, their mother will hate you as well." her father said. "Because if someone were to take your life, I would hate them with all my heart. Don't you see how war can be a vicious circle?!"

"I know that! I can't stay in this country and do nothing!"

"That kind of cheap and arrogant heroism will accomplish nothing!" Uzumi said, placing his hands on her shoulder. "Carrying a gun is not only way to fight a war. You must learn the causes of war, Cagalli. Attacking each other won't solve anything."

* * *

Hidden Morgenroete Dock

A Short While Later

Kira, Chris, John, Mu, Elizabeth and Tolle were all waiting around the hanger for the Archangel to launch. Tolle had just recently been given approval to pilot the third Sky Grasper by the Captain and Lieutenant Badgiruel.

"Ensign Yamato, please report to the upper deck."

"Huh?" Kira said. "Why do they want me to go to the upper deck?"

Chris shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe Cagalli wants to say goodbye to you."

"Whatever the reason may be, you should go see what they want." John said.

A few minutes later, Kira climbed the ladder to the upper deck. "Kira!" Cagalli shouted, running to the Archangel.

"Cagalli?! What are you doing here?!"

"You're parents are here! They're right up there!" Cagalli shouted back, pointing at the windows overlooking the hanger.

Kira looked up at the windows. His parents were there. His father was waving while his mother was saying something. But Kira couldn't hear it. A few minutes later, an out of breath Cagalli climbed up the ladder to the upper deck. "Why...Why won't you see them? Say something Kira." she said.

"Look. Could you tell them sorry but not now." he said. "For me. I don't think...right now..."

Kira turned away. "Okay." Cagalli said.

"Take care of yourself Cagalli and thanks for everything." Kira said, walking towards the hatch.

Suddenly, Cagalli grabbed him and hugged him. "Listen...Don't get killed." Cagalli said.

"Don't you worry. Nothing is going to happen to me.

A few minutes later, the dock door opened and the Archangel left, heading for their waiting escorts. The Orb fleet surrounded the Archangel, left Onogoro. Once it reached the edge of Orb waters, the Orb fleet stopped while the Archangel continued on, taking off into the air.

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

Outside Orb Waters

Athrun and his teammates waited inside their mobile suits. They had detected an Orb fleet leaving Onogoro. The ships were too close together for them to determine if the legged ship was with them or not. But Athrun wasn't taking any chances. He knew Kira was at Onogoro and it would only be a matter of time before the legged ship left Orb.

"A ship is separating from the fleet. Identifying...It's the legged ship!!"

Dearka whistled. "Wow." Saul said. "Guess Athrun was right after all"

"We're taking off." Athrun said. That ship is going down today."

The Aegis, the Duel and the Blitz launched, followed by Guuls. Then the GINN, the Surge and the Buster launched as well as their Guuls. The six headed towards the Archangel.

"This is the Farsight. I'm in position." John said, atop the Archangel.

The Strike, armed with the Launcher Striker, walked to the end of one of the catapults. Kira plugged the Agni cannon directly into the Archangel. "I'm in position as well."

"Deploy smokescreen." Natarle ordered.

Missiles fired from the Archangel as smoke poured from dispensers on the bridge tower of the Archangel. The missiles exploded, releasing more smoke. Soon the Archangel shrouded by smoke.

"Launch the Sky Graspers."

"Don't be nervous kid." Mu said. "All you need to do is stay overhead and spot for the Strike and the Farsight."

"Y..Yes." Tolle said, trying not to sound as nervous as he actually was.

"Oh, and Tolle." Liz said from Sky Grasper 2. "You'll want to brace yourselves before the catapult launches you."

"Mu La Flaga, Sky Grasper 1 launching." Mu said, launching his Sky Grasper, armed with the Aile Striker.

Sky Grasper 2, equipped with the Sword Striker, was loaded onto the catapult. "Liz Dante, Sky Grasper 2 launching."

The third Sky Grasper was loaded onto the catapult. "Tolle Koenig, Sky Grasper 3 launching."

The ZAFT mobile suits fired on the fighters but all three were able to avoid the incoming fire. "Alright kid, do your job and we'll keep them busy." Mu said.

"Right." Tolle said, pulling above the battlefield. "Strike, Farsight, this is Sky Grasper 3, I'm sending you the enemy coordinates now."

A moment later, sniper rounds and the Agni cannon's beam emerged from the smoke. "Scatter!" Athrun ordered.

The six mobile suits scattered, barely avoiding the the barrage. Suddenly, the Raven, in it's mobile armor mode, emerged from the smoke. It's railgun and machineguns firing at the group. Athrun, Nicol, and Saul fired back as the others moved out of the Raven's path. The Raven tackled the Surge, knocking it off of it's Guul as it transformed back and mounted the Guul. More shots rang out from the smokescreen of the Archangel, forcing the ZAFT team to pull apart even more as Sky Graspers 1 and 2 fired on the mobile suits as well.

"Saul!" Nicol shouted as he headed for the Raven.

Chris drew a beam saber as Nicol fired the Gliepnir anchor at him. Chris sliced the incoming anchor in two, destroying it. Nicol activated his own beam saber and charged the mobile suit. The two clashed, their swords meeting. They stood there for moment, sabers locked. Suddenly, the two mobile suits pushed back and before Nicol could react, Chris drew his left beam saber. And in one, quick, upward swing, sliced the Blitz's right arm off. Chris followed up with a swift kick to the Blitz's midsection, sending it to the waters below.

"Yzak, Dearka, focus on the legged ship, Zane and I will take care of the Raven." Athrun ordered.

The Aegis and the GINN fired on the Raven as the Duel and the Buster headed for the legged ship. Dearka combined his gun launcher and beam cannon into the long range hyper-impulse rifle and fired. The beam struck the Archangel's hull.

"Mu, give the kid the Aile Strike." John said. "The time for firing behind a smokescreen is over."

Kira detached the Launcher Striker and got on top of the Archangel. "Alright kid. Here it comes." Mu said, his fighter approaching the Strike from behind. "Just don't drop my present."

The Aile Striker detached from the fighter and attached itself to the Strike. Then the beam rifle and shield followed. Once the Strike was reequipped, it took off.

"There you are Strike!" Yzak shouted as the Strike emerged from the smoke.

Yzak fired at the Strike as he rushed towards it. Kira blocked the beam with his shield and fired back. A beam pierced Yzak's Guul. But that didn't stop Yzak. He jumped off the Guul before it exploded, drawing his beam saber. Kira drew one of his own sabers. Yzak swung the saber down on the Strike. Kira swung his own sword. The beam sliced through the top of Yzak's saber, rendering it useless.

"What the..." Yzak said, stunned at the loss of his beam saber.

Before he could regroup, Kira threw his shield at him, sending Yzak falling to the ocean. The Strike started to lose altitude. Strike just didn't have the ability to keep itself in the air for long.

"Hey Kira, need a ride?" Chris said as he flew towards the Strike, the Aegis and GINN firing as they chased him after.

The Raven leapt off the Guul it was riding and transformed, allowing Kira to mount it. "I got GINN Kira, you get the Aegis." Chris said.

The Raven flew head on at the GINN but Chris didn't fire. "You want to play chicken, Chris? Well too bad!" Zane said, firing the Guul's missiles at the Raven.

The missiles hit the Raven, but it's armor held. "Take this!" Zane shouted, squeezing the railgun's trigger.

The gun didn't fire. A warning light came on. Zane glanced at his console.

_Primary weapon jammed._

"What?! How can it be jammed?!"

Zane looked back up. The Raven was almost on him. Zane swore as he pulled the Guul up, trying to avoid the Raven. The Raven suddenly spun on it's back. It's Ahura Mazda beams weapons activated. The twin beams sliced through the Guul.

"Damn. That was either stupid, lucky or just plain crazy." Chris said to himself as the red GINN and the remains of the Guul became victims of gravity. "Probably all three."

Elsewhere, Dearka fired on the Archangel. John emptied his sniper rifle's clip at the Buster. But Dearka managed to avoid them and fired on the Farsight. John jumped out the beam's path, replcing his empty clip with a full one. With a fresh clip in place, John fired at the Buster. Rounds tore through the Buster's Guul.

"Dammit!" Dearka cursed, trying to maintain his altitude.

"That's not going to help you." John said, taking aim.

Another shot rang out, piercing one of the Guul's engines. The Guul failed and Dearka join most of his team in the water.

The Aegis fired at the Strike, but Kira dodged the shot and fired. Hitting Athrun's Guul. The Aegis jumped off the damaged Guul, sending it at the Strike's. Kira jumped off as the two Guuls collided. Suddenly, the Aegis fired at him. Kira dodged most of the beams, but one struck his rifle, destroying it. The Aegis then transformed into it's mobile armor mode and fired it's cannon. Kira dove down to the Archangel, avoiding Athrun's shots. A Gottfried fired at the Aegis as Kira landed on the Archangel. The beam narrowly missed the Aegis. Athrun transformed the Aegis and dove down, seeking to avoid any more fire from the Archangel's cannons, landing on a small rocky island.

"Liz. Give me the Sword Striker." Kira said.

"Okay." Liz said, bring her Sky Grasper into position.

A few moments later, the Strike equipped with the Sword Striker descended on the Aegis. Athrun barely avoided the sword but lost his beam rifle in the process. "Retreat already." Kira said. "This battle is over."

"Shut up!" Athrun shot back, swinging one of the Aegis's arm mounted beam sabers at the Strike.

Kira parried the swing. "Athrun stop! I don't want to fight you anymore!"

"It's too late! We're enemies now!" Athrun said, pressing his attack. "This won't end until one of us is destroyed!"

Kira blocked the descending arm and punched the Aegis's face. The red mobile suit fell onto it's back. The Aegis's phase shift armor deactivated. The Strike raised it's large sword over it's head. "Athrun..." Kira said.

"ATHRUN!!!"

Suddenly, the Blitz, holding one of it's lancer darts in it's left hand, charged the Strike. Kira reacted on instinct, swing the sword into the waist of the mobile suit, just beneath the cockpit. Kira let go of the sword, leaving it embedded in the Blitz.

"Athrun...Run..." Nicol said just before the Blitz exploded.

"NICOL!!!" Athrun screamed.

At that same moment, all of the other members of the Zala Team emerged from the waters around the island and instantly froze. The members of the Zala Team were stunned. The Blitz was gone. Nicol was gone. The kind-hearted, song writing, piano playing boy that never should have been in the war in the first place, was dead. Pieces of the Blitz littered the area, the largest being the Blitz's battered and smoking torso and head.

"Nicol..." Dearka whispered.

Yzak was at a loss for words. "No way...Impossible...He...Can't be..."

"Nicol!" Saul shouted, his eyes watering.

Suddenly, the Archangel's CIWS fired upon them. "Dammit." Saul cursed. "We have to retreat!"

"What?!" Yzak shouted. "But they-"

"I KNOW!!" Saul shouted, startling Yzak. "But we have no other choice! Athrun's out of power and we've lost the advantage! We have to escape while we can!"

"I agree." Zane added. "We'll only join him if we stay."

The Buster, Duel and GINN headed back to the waters where their sub was. The Surge grabbed the Aegis and withdrew as well. The Raven and the Farsight landed next to the Strike. "Wow..." Chris said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I didn't think we'd ever be able to take even one of those guys down. Good job Kira."

"Shut up." Kira said.

"What?"

"Don't you get it?!" Kira shouted. "I just killed someone!"

"Kira...I know that. But it's not like you went out of your way to kill him." Chris said. "It was self-defense. If you hadn't done it, it's likely that you would have been killed. It's not kill you killed him in cold-blood."

Suddenly, the Blitz's cockpit hatch opened, releasing more smoke. A figure crawled out of the smoking hatch and then collapsed on the Blitz's torso.

"Looks like you may have spoken too soon." John said. "Archangel. The Blitz's pilot survived. We're gonna need a medic here. ASAP!"

* * *

That's it for now. I kept Nicol alive. Originally, he was going to die as he did in the cannon, but I found that there are few stories that have him survive. And few of those go into Destiny. So I decided to keep him alive. But not without cost. One major good guy will die before the end of Seed. I won't say who, but it could be anyone among both the actual Seed characters that survive Seed and my OCs.

As always, please review!


	17. Phase Sixteen: Flashing Blades

Yo everybody! The last chapter got nine reviews! Which makes me very happy. So I tired to get this one up as fast as possible for all my fans. Enjoy. Especially those that reviewed the last chapter.

**Phase Sixteen: Flashing Blades**

Aboard the Cousteau

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Yzak shouted, punching a locker, Nicol's locker. "DAMMIT!!!"

The locker door flew open. Music sheets poured out. "Yzak..." Dearka said, trying to calm his friend down.

"Why did he have to die like that?! And why out here?!" Yzak shouted, turning to Athrun and glaring at him.

Athrun grabbed his collar and slammed Yzak against the locker. "Why don't you just say it, Yzak?!!" he shouted. "It's my fault Nicol's dead!!"

_WHAM!!_

"That's enough!!!" Saul shouted, his fist pressed against a locker.

Athrun, Yzak and Dearka were all stunned by their normally laidback teammate. Since they had first met him at the Academy, they had never seen him ever get really angry. Yet now, he was as angry as Yzak could get. It was actually a little scary. "Is this what Nicol would have wanted?!! Wasting our time, beating the crap out of each other?!! Look at yourselves!! What the hell with this accomplish?!!" he shouted. "We should be saving our energy for destroying that damned Strike and that damned legged ship!!"

Saul then stormed out of the room, leaving his comrades in a stunned state. A moment later, Zane, who had remained quiet since their return, finished putting uniform on and headed for the door. He stopped at the door. "He is right. Wasting our time fighting each other is pointless." Zane said. "But, if it wasn't for your hesitance _Commander_ Zala, we would have crushed them long before this happened. You may want to remember that before the next sortie."

Zane left the room. "First that bastard killed Miguel, then he gave me this scar, now he's killed Nicol! Next time we meet, I'm going to destroy the Strike!" Yzak said before he and Dearka left as well.

Athrun turned to open locker. Pages of music littered the ground while Nicol's uniform hung in the locker. He grabbed the uniform and embraced it. Memories of Nicol filled his mind. "I should have died...Not you..." Athrun said, his eyes watered. "Nicol...It's all because I was too weak to defeat Kira in the past...It was my weakness that killed you..."

Athrun slumped down on the ground next to Nicol's music sheets. His expression of sorrow turned to anger. "I'll kill him...The next time we meet..."

* * *

Saul entered his quarters and closed the door. He glanced at the small desk in the room. Atop it was a photo. It was from when they all graduated from the Academy together. Athrun, Dearka, Rusty, Miguel, Nicol, Yzak and himself were all grinning, clad in their uniforms. He grabbed the picture and then slumped down on the floor beside his bed, tears falling down his face, landing on the picture. First Rusty had been killed, then Miguel and now Nicol. All because of that damned Strike.

None of them had deserved to die. Rusty had just wanted to do his part to protect the PLANTs. Miguel needed the money to help his little brother. And Nicol...

_A Few Days Ago_

_The Cousteau had surfaced and was currently being resupplied by the supply sub, the Zanzibar. Saul, Athrun and Nicol were relaxing on the Cousteau's deck. Saul was laying on the deck while Athrun and Nicol were sitting next to him._

"_Why did you volunteer for the military, Nicol?" Athrun asked._

"_I guess I felt that I should do my part and join the fight after what happen at Junius Seven." Nicol said. "And what about you?"_

"_The very same reason." Athrun said._

_Nicol turned to Saul. "What about you Saul? Why did you join?"_

"_Well, not for the same reason you guys joined up for." Saul said, not even bothering to sit up, his tone annoyed. "Family tradition. Ever since my great great grandparents, my family's been in the armed forces. Obviously, long before ZAFT. So, I had no choice by to follow in the family tradition. Truthfully, I had no interest in the military. Much to annoyance of my family. Personally, I'd think that they'd disown me if they thought it wouldn't look bad on them."_

"_I think you're just being negative." Nicol said. "Your parents wouldn't do that."_

"_You don't know them." Saul said. "You know what they said to me just before we left for Earth? 'Don't be a burden on your teammates. And at least act like a respectable soldier for once.' Yeah. They care about me."_

_Saul sigh. "Let's talk about something else. Something more pleasant."_

"_Well, I've just about finished my latest piece." Nicol said._

_Saul chuckled. "Another one? At this rate, when the war's over, you'll have enough music for a dozen concerts. And of course, all of them will put Athrun to sleep."_

"_Hey!" Athrun said as both he and Nicol started laughing._

Nicol never should have been in this war in the first place. He should have been in the PLANTs, performing concerts, not fighting in battles. But he had wanted to protect the PLANTs, like everyone else was doing. And now he was dead.

Killed by the Strike.

But now...none of them were going to stop until the Strike was destroyed and Nicol was avenged.

* * *

Zane allowed himself to smile as he entered the hanger. The death of that weakling Amalfi would drive the rest of them to do what should have been done weeks ago. Especially that pathetic fool Athrun. He knew of his friendship with the Strike's pilot, just as he knew that it was source of Athrun's hesitance in dealing with the legged ship and it's mobile suits. But now, they were all determined to destroy the legged ship and it's mobile suits. The next battle would finish them all off.

"Why did the my railgun jam like that?" Zane asked as the crews worked on the mobile suits.

"A defective round, sir. When you fired, it became stuck in the barrel." one of the mechanics said. "Just a freak accident. A one in a million freak accident, but a freak accident never the less."

Images from when Miss Clyne was returned, filled his mind. Firing at the Raven, but most of his shots going wide, missing their target, regardless of what he did. The then battle in Earth's atmosphere. He had the Raven in his sight. There was no way for him to avoid the round. Only for his ballute to activate, ruining his shot. And this latest annoyance.

"I want my railgun and it's ammo throughly check over. I want it at one hundred percent before the next sortie." Zane said.

"Yes sir."

"This is third time he's escaped because of his luck." an annoyed Zane said to himself. "But he won't escape a fourth time because of that luck."

* * *

_The Strike standing over the powerless Aegis..._

_It's sword raising..._

_Athrun..._

_Running...Strike turning..._

_Sword swinging...Hitting..._

_Athrun...Run..._

_Flash...Fire...Pain..._

_Darkness..._

_Pain...Smoke..._

_Must escape...._

_Sunlight...More pain..._

_Darkness..._

Nicol groaned. His eyes slowly opened. He was lying on a bed, bandages covering his wounds. How had he gotten here? He tried to remember what happened. They were fight the legged ship and it's mobile suits. The Blitz's right arm had been sliced off by the Raven. Then...

"Athrun!" he said as he remembered.

The Aegis ran out of power and the Strike was about to destroy it. He had rushed to his rescue and the Strike had hit the Blitz with it's sword and the Blitz had exploded. They must have rescued him and taken him back to the sub.

"Ah. I see your awake." a voice said.

Suddenly, a doctor clad in an Earth Forces uniform appeared over him. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He hadn't noticed until now that his right arm had been handcuffed to the guardrail of the bed and that the room he was in wasn't the infirmary of the . It was the legged ship's! Athrun and the others hadn't rescued him, the legged ship had.

But then...What happened to Athrun and the others? Were they alive? Or had...No. They couldn't have been shot down. They were all Red Coats. ZAFT aces. They would have made it. Just like he did.

But he was now a prisoner of war. He had heard stories of what anti-Coordinator Naturals did to captured ZAFT soldiers. There were stories of capture soldiers being tortured to death by cruel interrogators regardless of whether or not they actually knew anything of value. Prisoners being beaten for even the slightest provocation, real or imagined. There were even stories of young captured pilots like him just disappearing. Like they had never existed in the first place.

Nicol was terrified about what was going to happen to him. Would he ever see his parents and friends again? Or would he disappear as well? Nicol's heart was racing. He heard the increasing beeps of the heart rate monitor he was hooked up to.

"Whoa. Easy now." the doctor said, trying to calm him down. "Calm down. No one is going to hurt you. You're body is still in rough shape. If you don't calm down, you're going to go into shock."

Nicol took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and slow his heart rate. After a few minutes of breathing, he had managed to calm himself down. "Good." the doctor said. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"No. Just a little stiff and sore." Nicol replied.

"Good. I don't have much experience treating Coordinators." the doctor said. "I wasn't sure how much painkiller to give you."

"Where...Where am I?"

"You're aboard the Archangel. The ship you've been chasing."

"Oh."

"You're lucky to have survived that, you know. Certainly, a Natural would not have likely survived."

"Get some rest." the doctor said. "The Captain will wish to speak to you in a little while, so you should rest up."

"Were...Were any of the other mobile suits shot down?"

"Nope." the doctor said. "From my understanding, the rest of the attackers fled after your machine was destroyed."

"Thank you." he said.

"Don't worry about it. Just get some rest."

Nicol nodded and then closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. When he woke up a few hours later, the ship's Captain, XO and a blond haired officer came by to ask him some questions. All they got was his name, rank, and serial number. He wasn't going to betray Athrun, Saul and the others. After they left, Nicol found himself wondering what his teammates were doing right now. Then he realized it. They probably thought he was dead. And that would his parents would find out soon enough. He could picture his teammates grieving in their own individual ways. He could picture his mother, sitting at his piano, crying.

_'The truly ironic part about this is, they'll probably try to destroy the legged ship in revenge. And if they succeed, they'll end up killing me.'_

* * *

Elsewhere

John entered Kira's quarters. As expected, the depressed boy was sitting against the side of his bed. "Are you going to spend all of your time mopping around?" John asked while drinking some coffee.

Kira didn't respond.

John sighed. "Look kid, you're being quite selfish." he said.

Kira looked up at him. "It's true." John said, his tone becoming serious. "You're not the only person who's ever felt guilty over killing someone. Just about everyone that fights in war, feels that way at one point or another. I remember the first time I killed someone. I wasn't that much older than you. After I shot them, I threw up and nearly passed out. And the face of the person I killed has been forever burned into my memory."

"But you really shouldn't be mopping around anyway. You should be celebrating with your friends in mess hall over this recent victory. And you should be celebrating that Blitz's pilot survived."

"Please. Just leave me alone." Kira said.

John sighed again. "Well. Suit yourself kid. But you really need to loosen up and relax from time to time. Or you're going to snap." he said before leaving.

* * *

The Bridge

A Few Days Later

"I believe that we'll receive at least one other attack before we reach Alaska's air defense space. They'll want to avenge their fallen comrade." John said, pulling up a map on the main screen. "I believe that we should take this route. It is the fastest to Alaska. But there is a chain of islands in this path. The ideal place for them to ambush us."

"But why should we take a route to us being ambushed?" Natarle asked.

"Simple. We present then with an opening, they'll take it. So we'll know when they'll attack." John said. "I recommend that we be prepared for combat and have all mobile suits and Sky Graspers ready for launch before we reach those islands."

"Making them think that they're going to ambush us, but in reality, they fight on our terms." Mu said. "That's pretty clever."

"The best way to counter an ambush is make the attacker think that they're going to catch you off guard." John said.

* * *

The Brig

Nicol sighed as he laid on the cot in his cell. The day after he woke up, the doctor had said that he was well on the way to a full recovery and that he was now out of any danger. So, pair of guards transferred him to a cell in the ship's brig.

It wasn't that bad, all things considering. It could have been a lot worse. The only thing Nicol really hated about it was alone. Sitting in a cell all day long, with nothing to do and no one to talk to, was quickly becoming difficult to bare. He had pretty much lost all track of time. Only when his meals came, did he have any real idea of what time it was. The doctor had come by everyday to check how well his injuries were healing. But other than that, there was nothing for him to do. What he wouldn't give for a pencil and some paper. At least then he could pass the time writing music.

"So you're the pilot of the Blitz." a voice said, startling Nicol.

"Or rather, you were the pilot of the Blitz." a brown hair teen in an Earth Forces uniform, holding a food tray, said.

"Yeah." Nicol quietly said.

"Well, he's your food." the teen said, sliding the food into the slot at the bottom of the cell door. "I'm Chris Dante, pilot of the Raven."

"You're the pilot of the Raven?!" a surprised Nicol said as got up to get the tray.

"Let me guess, you pictured some grizzled, Earth Forces veteran that had been fighting since before the war started."

"Well...Kinda..."

The teen laughed. "Well, sorry to disappoint you. But I'm just teen from Heliopolis. Until you guys attacked."

"Sorry." Nicol said. "We never want things to turn out that way."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like it was the first home I lost because of this war."

"Huh?"

"Originally, I was from Junius Seven."

"Wait...That means...Then Saul was right, you're a Coordinator!"

"Yep." the teen said. "Originally, I lived in PLANTs. But when the Copernicus Tragedy happened. My parents decided that it wasn't safe for us in PLANTs anymore and send my little sister and me to live with my aunt and uncle in Heliopolis. They were doctors and they couldn't just pack up and leave. But they had arranged to leave on February 15th. But of course, we both know what happened the day before."

"But why are fighting for the Earth Forces? They were the responsible for the Bloody Valentine Tragedy!"

"Are you saying that I should blame them all for the actions of a few?" he said. "What good would that do? My parents and friends are dead. Nothing will change that. And an eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind."

"That's an interesting philosophy." Nicol said as he started eating his lunch. "But still, how can you fight with them, knowing what they did your family and friends?"

"None of the people on board this ship were responsible for that disaster. And they're all good people. So why should I blame them?"

"I see your point." Nicol said. "I never had any ill will towards Naturals or the Alliance. I just don't want another Bloody Valentine Tragedy to happen."

"Nor do I." he said. "I just want this war to end before I lose anything else."

Nicol nodded. "By the way, I'm Nicol Amalfi."

"Hello Nicol. Need anything else?"

"Actually, I wouldn't mind some paper and something to write with."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm a musician and I like to write my own music."

"Well...I'll see what I can do. The paper's no problem. But I may get in trouble if I give you pencil. As it could be seen as something that can be used as a weapon."

"Oh..."

"But so long as you don't try anything funny, I don't see any reason not to." Chris said. "Of course, if you'll need to make sure no one catches you with it."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

The Next Day

"Sonar has picked up something. It's the legged ship!"

"Are you sure?" the Captain asked.

"There's no mistake sir."

"They're heading for a chain of small islands. There isn't a lot of room for them to maneuver. It's the ideal place for an ambush." the Captain said.

"Today's the day we're gonna finish that ship and it's mobile suits for good." Yzak said.

"Yeah. Today we're gonna avenge Nicol and your scar." Dearka said.

"For Nicol." Saul said, punching his palm. "They're going down."

"We're taking off." Athrun said.

* * *

"Ma'am! Enemy silhouette detected!" Chandra said. "Five mobile suits incoming."

"Just as he thought. They're attacking!" Murrue said. "All hands to Level One Battlestations!"

* * *

"_All hands to Level One Battlestations! I repeat..."_

"Alright. They've taken the bait." John said from the cockpit of his machine. "Kira, Chris, stay close to the ship. They'll try to force her down into the waters where the islands will constrict her movements. We can't let that happen."

"Right." the two teens said.

"Launch the Sky Graspers." Badgiruel said over the comm.

"Okay. Tolle, stick close to either Liz or myself." Mu said as his fighter was loaded onto the catapult. "And be careful."

"Right."

A few moments later, all of the Sky Graspers and mobile suits had taken off. Farsight stood atop the Archangel's rear deck while the Strike, riding the Raven, and the Sky Graspers flew alongside the Archangel, waiting for the enemy.

Dearka combined the Buster's guns into a single long range weapon and fired. The Archangel evaded the beam while John fired back at the Buster. Yzak roared, heading for the Strike and the Raven. He fired at the mobile suit as Kira and Chris returned fire. The shots either missed or were blocked by their shields. Once the mobile suits closed in on each other, Kira and Yzak drew their beam sabers and attacked.

The Buster and the GINN fired upon the Archangel, hitting several missile tubes and one of the Igelstellung turrets. John and the fighters fired back, but missed. Both Saul and Athrun join Yzak in attacking the Raven and the Strike. They fired on two mobile suits as they clashed with Yzak.

"Damn." Chris cursed as he narrowly avoided their attacks as he pulled away from the Duel. "We're gonna have to split up."

"Right." Kira said, switching back to his rifle.

Kira jumped off the Raven and fired at the Duel, hitting it's right knee. The leg exploded, knocking it off of it's Guul and sending it to the waters below. But as the Duel fell, Yzak fired it's railgun at the Strike, hitting it's rifle, destroying it.

Elsewhere, the Archangel continued to take a pounding from the Buster and the GINN. Despite the efforts of John and the others, the Archangel had lost almost half of it's missile tubes, four Igelstellung turrets and one of it's Valiants. Worse yet, it's engines were taking a tremendous beating. John swore as he fired at the Buster. "Kira, Chris, we need some backup! The ship won't last much longer!"

At that very moment, the Buster fired, hitting the Archangel's engines. The damage was too great. The Archangel could no longer maintain it's lift and began to descend on one of the islands.

"Dammit! I'm coming!" Chris said, turning towards the battered ship.

"Oh no you don't!" Saul said, jumping off his Guul.

The Surge landed on the Raven. Saul pointed his rifle down, directly at the Raven...

Suddenly, Sky Grasper 2 appeared, the Sword Striker's sword extended and ready to slice through the Surge. "Shit!" Saul shouted as he jumped back, firing at the fighter.

A lucky shot struck the sword, destroying it and damaging the Sky Grasper. "Liz!!" Chris shouted as his sister struggled to maintain her altitude.

"I can't keep her stable! I'm going down!"

Chris transformed the Raven back into it's mobile suit mode and pulled alongside the falling aircraft. He reached out and grabbed the Sky Grasper. "I got you." Chris said, heading for the island.

"Thanks." Liz said.

The Archangel, fire and smoke billowing from it, crash landed onto the island. "Time to finish this ship off once and for all!" Dearka said, aiming for it's bridge.

Suddenly, fire from Sky Graspers 3 struck the mobile suit as the fighters flew past him "Stupid pest! You're going down!!" Dearka growled as he turned towards the fighter.

"Not today!" Mu said, firing the Agni cannon at him.

Dearka turned back as the beam struck the Buster. The powerful beam tore through the Buster's right shoulder, severing the arm and knocking the Buster off it's Guul. It landed in front of the downed Archangel. Both of it's Gottfrieds targeted it. Seeing no other option, Dearka stepped out of it's cockpit with his hands raised.

"Archangel, open one of the hatches. I have Sky Grasper 2 with me." Chris said, landing on the Archangel.

One of the hatches opened. Chris moved towards, when the Surge and the GINN fired on him. Chris pulled the fighter close to him in one hand while he fired the Raven's railgun at them. Suddenly, a round tore through the GINN's Guul, destroying it. "Go! I got you covered!" John said, firing on the pair.

Chris quickly climbed into the Archangel, dropped off the damaged fighter and headed back out. John was holding his own against the two grounded machines. For now anyway. Chris headed for the GINN, firing at it. Zane fired back and took off. Heading deeper into the island and away from the Archangel. Chris followed after him.

Meanwhile, the Strike landed on the island. "Kira!!" Athrun shouted as he jumped off his Guul and fired at the Strike.

Kira raised his shield, protecting him from barrage. Athrun landed in front of the Strike and activated the Aegis's beam saber in it's right arm. The two mobile suits clashed as it began to rain. "You murdered Nicol!!" Athrun screamed.

"No! I did-"

"SHUT UP!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" Athrun roared as at the Strike again.

* * *

Saul fired at the gray GINN High Maneuver Type. But John sidestepped the shot and fired, hitting the Surge's rifle. Saul discarded the weapon just before it exploded.

"Surrender." John said to the Surge's pilot.

"Never." Saul said, drawing his swords. "I'm not giving up that easily!"

"You're machine may be superior to mine. But you're no match for me kid."

The Surge lunged forward and slashed off the GINN's right arm and slammed it to the ground. The Farsight crashed to the ground. "I told you." Saul said, hovering over the GINN. "I'm not giving up that easily!"

"Never lower your guard in combat, boy!" John said, pulling out one of his hidden beam sabers.

"Wha-"

Before Saul could react, John's saber slashed through the Surge's shins. Saul swore as the Surge fell backwards. He reached for his rifle when John's beam saber appeared inches from the cockpit. "Don't. It's over." John said. "Power down and step out of the cockpit."

Saul swore. It was over. He powered down the Surge and opened up the cockpit. John pulled his saber back. "I surrender." he said as he stepped out, his hands raised.

* * *

Kira found himself being beaten back by Athrun. He was fighting like he was possessed. Kira was struggling just to defend himself from the attacks. If he couldn't

"Kira!!"

Sky Grasper 3 appeared in the skies overhead. Tolle fired on the Aegis. Only one or two shots actually hit the Aegis, causing little damage. The Aegis spun around, throwing it's shield at the fighter. Tolle never stood a chance. The spinning shield crashed into the Sky Grasper's cockpit, killing Tolle instantly.

"Tolle!!!" Kira screamed as the fighter exploded.

But he wasn't the only one. At that very moment, the GINN and the Raven approached the area they were battling in.

Tolle! NO!!" Chris screamed as well.

Chris stood there for a moment, frozen. Another person he cared about had been claimed by this war.

"What a fool. Thinking that a fighter was a match for a mobile suit." Zane said. "That idiot has only himself to blame for his death."

Images of his parents and friends from Junius Seven filled his head. Then images of it's fiery death. Then that little girl from Heliopolis that gave him the paper flower that was still on the Raven's control console. Zane, firing at her shuttle. Then finally, all the good times he had with Tolle. From the day they first met to the more recent events. His death and Zane's words collided as a seed shattered in the back of his mind.

"ZANE!!!" he roared, turning back to the GINN.

He drew both beam sabers and lunged at the red machine. The GINN jumped back, barely dodging the sabers, and fired. A round tore through the Raven's left wing. Chris was completely obvious to it. He keep on attacking. Zane was barely able to avoid the attacks. He knew he couldn't keep it up for much longer.

"Dammit." he cursed. "I refuse to lose to you and that machine! I will defeat you!"

A gray seed shattered in the back of Zane's mind. "I...WILL...NOT...LOSE...TO...YOU!!!" he shouted.

Zane switch from his railgun to his sword. The two clashed. Beam sabers striking the GINN's sword and shield. The two machines tried to overpower the other. To knock the other to ground and finish them off. Neither seemed to be able to overpower the other. Suddenly, Zane pushed his sword to the side, catching Chris off guard. Giving Zane an opening. Zane jammed his sword into the space in between the left shoulder and the body of the Raven. Where there was no phase shift armor to protect it. The sword cut into the joint. The left arm froze. The beam saber died, as did the left arm's phase shift armor. But Chris didn't care. He swung his remaining saber down on the GINN's left arm, slicing it off.

Meanwhile, the battle between Kira and Athrun become just as vicious. "ATHRUN!!!" Kira roared as a purple seed shattered in his mind.

The Strike and the Aegis lunged at each other. Kira blocked Athrun's saber, sliced off the Aegis's left arm and then kicked the mobile suit. Athrun staggered back, trying to stay standing. A green seed shattered in his mind as well. "KIRA!!!" he roared, activating the sabers in the Aegis's feet.

The two clashed again and again. The Strike's left arm flew off. The Aegis's head was stabbed and then ripped off. A gash was cut across the Strike's chest, exposing the cockpit. The Aegis transformed into it's mobile armor mode and grabbed the Strike. It's Scylla cannon started charging. Suddenly, the charging beam started to flicker before the cannon deactivated. The Aegis was out of power. It's phase shift armor deactivated. Athrun had only one option left to destroy the Strike. He activated the Aegis's self-destruct and ejected.

Both Chris and Zane saw the Aegis shut down and Athrun escape, breaking up their fight. Zane knew what Athrun was doing, he grinned and immediately fled the area. Chris, on the other hand, didn't realize what Athrun did, and turned to the fleeing GINN, preparing to fire.

Suddenly, the Aegis exploded. The fireball engulfed the Strike and expanded, slamming into the Raven.

* * *

As always folks, please revew!


	18. Phase Seventeen: Grieving Skies

Yo everybody! Got another chapter up for you all. Kinda a little annoyed that I got only 3 reviews after the chapter before it got nine, but whatever.

**Phase Seventeen: Grieving Skies**

Suddenly, the Aegis exploded. The fireball engulfed the Strike and expanded, slamming into the Raven. The Raven was sent flying. "AAAAAAAAH!!!" Chris screamed as the Raven was slammed across and darkness took him.

Chris groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He blink a few times as everything came back into focus. The Raven was lying on it's front. The phase shift armor had deactivated and the main battery almost completely out of power. He switched over the reserve battery. It'd give him enough power to get back to the ship. The screens in the cockpit flickered to life. Most of screens displayed static. Either the screens were damaged or most of his camera had been taken out. Or maybe a little bit of both. Slowly, the Raven stood up. There were several mechanical groans that accompanied the Raven's movements. The Raven was in rough shape. The left arm was completely useless. The small hole in the left wing had grown in size as a result of the explosion. And the Raven's body had been damaged from the fire of the explosion and from being slammed into the ground. He had to get back to the ship before any of the ZAFT mobile suits found him.

He turned towards where the Archangel crashed and started to head that way. When he remembered what exactly happened during the battle...

"Kira!"

Chris scanned the area for Strike. The explosion had thrown him deeper into the woods. But there was no trace of either the Strike or the remains of the Aegis. "Kira! Come in Kira! Can you here me?!" Chris said over the comm, hoping it was working. "Kira, respond!"

"Come on Kira, where are you?" he said to himself as he listened to static. "You and the Strike are tougher than that. Come on, where are you?!"

"...Tol...Kira...ris...please...res..."

It was Mirillia! Chris found comfort in the fact that at least the Archangel was still out there.

* * *

The bridge of the Archangel was silent. Save for Miriallia's attempts to contact the two mobile suits and the Sky Grasper. They had all seen the explosion. All contact with the Strike, the Raven and Sky Grasper 3 had been lost. They all feared the worse.

"Captain, what was that explosion?" Mu asked over the comm.

"I don't know." Murrue said. "But we've lost contact with the Strike, the Raven and Sky Grasper 3."

"...gel...This...Chris..."

"Chris! Chris! This is the Archangel! Do you read?!" Miri said, frantically trying to reestablish communications with the Raven.

"Archangel...re gone...coming..."

"Chris! We're not gone! We're still here!"

"Archangel...This is Chris...still here...Raven's damaged..."

"Chris. What happened to Tolle and Kira?"

"Tolle's...dead...Kira...I...I don't know..." Chris replied, coming in clearer.

A stunned silence filled the bridge. Miriallia let out a sob and ran out of the bridge. No one tried to stop her.

"You have to send someone out to search for him." Chris said.

"Captain! Three contacts on radar!" Kuzzey said.

"They're DINNs, ma'am!" Chandra said. "They'll be on us in fifteen minutes!"

"Prepare to intercept." Murrue ordered.

"Not possible, Captain." Natarle said. "Over half of our weapons are out of commission. We won't last ten minutes against them. We have to leave the area as soon as possible."

"What about Kira?!" Chris said. "We just can't leave him out there!"

"There's nothing we can do." Badgiruel said. "It's obvious that Ensign Yamato is MIA. Return to the ship."

"But Kira-"

"Ensign Dante, return to the ship." Murrue said.

Chris sighed. "Yes ma'am..."

"Captain, power has been restored." Newmann said.

"Prepare to take off once the Raven is on board." Murrue said. "What was the last known position of the Strike?"

"But Captain! We don't have enough time to search for the Strike." Natarle said. "If we stayed, you'd risk this ship as well as the lives everyone on board."

"I know that! Send out an SOS, along with the Strike's last known coordinates to Orb." Murrue ordered.

"Orb?"

"Orb will accept. We're asking them to save lives."

"But that nation's-"

"I will take full responsibility for this!!" Murrue said, silencing her XO.

The damaged Raven approached the Archangel. One of the catapults was open for him. The Raven clumsily jumped up, landed on the catapult and staggered into the hanger. The Raven moved passed the captured Buster and Surge and came to rest in it's usual spot, next to where the Strike normal stood. Chris didn't say anything as he deactivated his machine and climbed out. Once he was out of the cockpit, he tore off his helmet and slammed it into the ground, screaming as he did it. He leaned on the catwalk, his eyes watering.

"Birdie. Birdie." Kira's mechanical pet chirped, flying through the hanger before landing on Chris's head.

Normally, Chris would have swatted the bird off his head. But at the moment, he didn't care. Tolle was gone. Kira was missing. Worse, they were abandoning Kira to save themselves.

Chris slammed his fists onto the railing. He was right there and he didn't do anything. He should have known that the Aegis's pilot would have self-destructed like that. He should have tried to pull the Aegis off of the Strike.

Liz touched his shoulder. Chris turned to face her. There were tears on her face. The two hugged each other as they cried.

Elsewhere, Miri approached the flight simulator that Tolle had spent so much time in. "Tolle?" Miri said, tears in her eyes.

Mu approached the grieving girl. "Where's Tolle?" Miri asked him.

Mu didn't say anything. He hated these situations. He never knew what to say.

"Tolle cannot be dead...He just can't...Because...because..."

Miri collasped to the ground, crying. Mu reached out to her, drew his hand back before he touched her. He instead punched the flight simulator in frustration and grief. There was nothing he could do to help her.

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

"Captain!" Yzak said as he entered the Cousteau's bridge. "Why are we moving?! Athrun, Dearka and Saul aren't back yet!"

"They're all missing, I'm afraid." the Captain said. "And Commander Le Creuset has ordered us to return to base."

"Missing?! What do you mean missing?!"

"What do you think it means?" Zane said, staring at the screens. "Dearka and Saul were likely shot down and Athrun likely killed himself taking out the Strike."

"WHAT?!!" Yzak shouted.

"He grabbed the Strike with the Aegis and then self-destructed." Zane said. "I did see him bail out, but it's unlikely that he cleared the blast radius in time. But he did destroy the Strike and likely the Raven as well."

"Turn this ship around right now!" Yzak shouted. "There's no way that all three of them dead! We don't wear these red uniforms for nothing!"

"Those red uniforms mean that you should be able to make decisions calmly and rationally." the Captain said. "We've been ordered back. Second team has been dispatched to search the area. And we've received word that Orb is also joining in the search for survivors. If they're alive, they'll be found."

* * *

Aboard the Archangel

"Well...This is one fine mess we've gotten ourselves in." Saul said.

The two of them had been taken to one of the locker rooms, stripped of their flight suits and dressed in simple white clothes. Their hands were tied behind their backs and a pair of armed guards were watching over them. "Shut up." one of the guards said.

A man entered the room. He wasn't wearing a uniform like the others. Rather he as wearing a dark trenchcoat and pants. But there was something about him that Saul found familiar. But he couldn't figure out what it was.

"More kids." the man said. "You'd think that they would have entrusted those stolen mobile suits to people that were older and more experienced."

"You seem familiar." Saul said.

"I could say the same about you." the man said. "Wait. What's your name?"

"Saul Kessel."

The man started to laugh. "You're Diana Kessel's little brother?! The one she's always complaining about? Yes. Now I recognize you. You're the lazy slacker."

"Hacker. I'm the lazy hacker. What about it?" Saul said.

"You don't recognize me?"

Saul stared at the man. There was something familiar about him, but he just couldn't place it.

"No. Why..." he said as it suddenly donned on him. "Wait minute! Now I recognize you! But you're dead!"

"Okay. I'm confused. What's going on here?" Dearka asked as the man continued to laugh. "You know this guy?"

"Yeah. This prick's the Black Hawk. Commander John Alaric." Saul said.

"What?! No way! You mean the guy that fought the Tiger actually was the Black Hawk!" Dearka said. "Wait a minute! You don't look like the Black Hawk. The Black Hawk had-"

"Longer hair and a beard and mustache? It's called shaving kid. Something you have yet to experience."

"He's Alaric." Saul said. "I met him once, a few months before the war started. It's him."

"But you're a Coordinator. Why are you fighting with the Earth Forces?" Dearka asked.

"I have my reasons." he said. "None of which I have to explain to you two."

"Does my sister know that you're a traitor?" Saul said.

"She knows, along with the entire 11th Fleet as they have been aiding me since my 'death'. And we're more like patriots than traitors. We're simply doing things our own way. As we have always done."

"What do you mean 'doing things our own way'?" Dearka asked.

"There are times when people, who love their nation, must act against it to remove dangerous elements within the nation that don't have the nation and it's peoples' best interests." he cryptically replied.

Alaric turned to the two guards. "Now, the Captain wants us to take them to the infirmary, so the doctor check them over before they're put in the brig."

A few minutes later, the five of them were walking down the halls towards the infirmary.

"Well, at least you got one cute girl on this ship." Dearka said as they approached a group of crew members, one of which was a sad-looking, brown haired girl.

"Must you hit on every cute thing in a skirt?" Saul said.

Dearka ignored him and turned his attention to the girl. "Aw...What's with the tears?" Dearka taunted. "Saul and me are ones that should be crying."

"Well, you should be crying." Saul said. "You got shot down by a single fighter. What kind of Red Coat gets shot down by a fighter?"

"Hey! That was no ordinary fighter!" Dearka said as they continued down the hall.

"Excuses. Excuses." Saul said.

* * *

Aboard an Orb Transport Plane

A Few Hours Later

Athrun slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight was shinning through the window, onto his face. He slowly sat up and groaned from the pain of his injuries.

"I see your awake." a familiar voice said.

Athrun turned his head. It was the girl, Cagalli. Holding a gun at him. At the moment, you're aboard an Orb aircaft." she said, moving closer to the bed. "We decided to take you in after we found you lying on the beach."

"What does a neutral nation like Orb, want with me?" Athrun asked. "Or am I in the hands of the Earth Forces now?"

"There's something I have to know." Cagalli said. "Were you the one who destroyed the Strike?"

Athrun bowed his head, unable to look her in the eye. "Yes...That was me."

"What happened to the pilot?" Cagalli desperately asked. "We couldn't find him anywhere. Did he eject like you?"

"He's dead...Because I killed him..."

Cagalli's eyes widened as her arm holding the gun began to shake.

"It's true...I grabbed the Strike with my Aegis and self-destructed. I don't see how he could have escaped."

Cagalli grabbed him by the collar and jammed her gun under his chin. "It was the only option I had left..." Athrun said, raising his head.

Their eyes met as tears slid down Athrun's face. Cagalli slammed him down on the bed and looked ready to shoot him, when she let go of him. "DAMMIT!!" she shouted as she punched a wall while her own tears appeared.

Athrun sat up again. "But why am I still alive?" he said, more to himself than to Cagalli. "I must have gotten out just in time."

Cagalli spun around and pointed the gun at Athrun again. "Or maybe you're the one destined to kill me."

"Kira...took too many risks and didn't always know what he's doing and always cried....But he was kind! He was a nice guy!" Cagalli shouted.

A sad smile spread across Athrun's face. "Yeah...Sounds like he didn't change a bit. He was always like that."

"Did you..."

"He was a sentimental crybaby and he was smart but never thought things through."

"You really knew Kira?"

"Yes...We were close. We were friends ever since we were child. We were the best of friends."

"But then...That's crazy!! If you were such great friends, then why did you kill him?!!" Cagalli said grabbing his collar.

"I don't...I have no idea why either!!" Athrun shouted back as his tears returned.

"We separated as friends and the next time I saw him, we were enemies. I asked him to come with us, over and over. Because he was a Coordinator! Don't you see?! He was one of us! He didn't belong with the Earth Forces!" Athrun said. "But he wouldn't listen! He fought against us! Even hurting friends of mine! Then he killed Nicol!"

"So that's why-"

"He wasn't on my side any more! He was an enemy!! I had know other choice but to kill him!" Athrun said, trying more to rationalize it in his own mind than Cagalli's.

"You idiot!!! How could you have come up with something so stupid?! How could you do something so terrible?!!" Cagalli shouted.

"He killed Nicol! He was fifteen! He loved to play the piano! He only fought to protect the PLANTs! And Kira murdered him!"

"Kira was fighting to protect the people he cared about!! He didn't deserve to be killed!! And by his best friend of all people!!"

Athrun didn't say anything, but a fresh set of tears rolled down his face.

"Someone's killed for killing another! Then that guy is killed for killing him! How is that twisted thinking ever going to bring peace?!!" Cagalli said, crying.

Cagalli held on to Athrun and leaned her head onto his shoulder. Suddenly, the door opened and an old man in an Orb Military uniform entered the room.

"Sorry to interrupt." the man said. "But we received word from the team that recovered the remains of the Blitz. There were no remains within the cockpit. Likely the pilot survived and was captured by the Archangel. I figured that he would want to know."

The news hit Athrun like a ton of bricks. Nicol was alive...He was alive...Then he had killed Kira over nothing...He had killed his best friend for nothing...absolutely nothing...

"What...What have I done..."

* * *

The Archangel

Later That Night

"Come on you guys! I'm begging you!" Mu said, trying to get the hanger crews to prepare his Sky Grasper for launch.

"Don't be a fool." John said. "There's nothing you can do for him."

Mu ignored him and started loading extra supplies on his fighter.

"If you some how manage to find the kid, just what then? ZAFT forces are likely still in the area." he said. "You'll be lucky to get to the island without being attacked."

"Commander!" Murrue called out, running towards them.

"At last, someone that can talk some sense into him." John said.

"Give the mechanics some time to rest." Murrue said.

"Have we received any word from Orb yet?" Mu asked.

"No. But-"

"Have we reached Alaska's air defense space?"

"Yes. But-"

"Then I'm going."

"I won't allow it." Murrue said.

"But what if he managed to get out in time!"

"And I would be the first to volunteer to go out and search for him. But right now, that's impossible." Murrue said. "And given the current situation, I cannot permit you to go out alone either."

Noting the change in Murrue's tone, John decided that this conversation no longer for him to be a part of. And he quietly left the two.

"Commander, if you didn't come back and we lost you too...I don't know..." she said, her eyes watering. "Have faith. Pray for Kira. And stay here."

Mu put a hand on her shoulder. "Understood."

* * *

Nicol quietly sat on the floor of his cell, writing another musical piece. Chris was a life saver. If he hadn't managed to bring him paper and a pencil, he probably would have lost it a couple of days ago. At least now he could do something to kill time. Chris also frequently brought him his meals and would stay and talk for a while.

His stomach growled. Loudly. Nicol hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. There had been a battle shortly after he had given his breakfast and no one had stopped but his cell since the battle ended.

Suddenly, the brig door opened. Nicol quickly stuffed the paper and pencil under his mattress. A weary looking Chris, holding a food tray, stepped in front of the cell doors. Nicol could tell that something bad had happened just from looking at him. "Sorry about forgetting to bring you lunch. I...There's been a lot going on." he said as he slid the food tray through the slot.

Nicol grabbed the tray began eating with gusto. "The Buster and the Surge were captured in the last battle."

Nicol's eyes widened as he stopped eating. "Are the pilots-"

"They're fine." Chris said. "Actually...They should have been moved into their own cells hours ago. I think I better go ask someone about that."

Chris turned and started heading for the door. "Wait!" Nicol called out. "Was anyone else shot down during the battle?"

"The Duel was damaged but retreated." Chris paused for moment. "The Aegis...The Aegis grabbed the Strike and self-destructed. I don't know if either of them made it."

Chris left the brig without saying another word. "Please Athrun. Be okay." he quietly said, worried about his friend.

* * *

Chris sighed as he aimlessly wondered the halls. They had reached the safety of the Alaska Air Defense Zone and ZAFT had given up. They'd reach JOSH-A the next morning. And then...Well he didn't know what would happen when they got there.

Everyone was having a difficult time with Tolle's death and Kira's disappearance. Chris had spent the day alone for the most part. Wondering the halls or just sitting somewhere. Flay had tried to comfort him, but he just wanted to be left alone for now.

He turned a corner and came face to face with Sai as he left the infirmary. Neither he or Flay had spoken with Sai since it happened. But he figured that maybe now would be the time to try to patch things up between.

"Sai." he said.

"...Chris." Sai said as politely as he could.

"I'm sorry about everything. I never wanted or intended for what happened to happen." he said. "I just wanted to help Flay out with her grief over her father's death. But...Well, you know what happened. Again, I'm sorry about this whole mess."

Sai opened his mouth. "I-"

Suddenly, they heard some muffled shouting and a loud crash. It was coming from the infirmary. Chris and Sai ran into the room. The blond haired prisoner was lying on the ground, his hands bound and bleeding from a cut on his forehead. The other prisoner was sitting on one of the beds, trying to break free of his bonds to help his comrade. Standing over the blond was Miriallia, holding a knife. Her face was a mixture of grief and rage.

Both Sai and Chris grab Miri, stopping her from attacking the prisoner again. "What the hell is her problem?!" the other prisoner shouted.

The two teens ignored him, focusing on Miri. "Miri! Stop it!" Sai said as they get the knife from her hands.

"Doing this won't change anything!" Chris added.

"Tolle's gone and he's never coming back!! And yet this creep...What is this scumbag doing here?!!"

"I hate to have to do this." Chris said, letting go of the girl.

A second later, he slapped her. Stopping her. "Is this what Tolle would have wanted?" Chris asked. "Would he have wanted you to kill someone?"

The rage left Miri's face, leaving only her grief. But also caused her loosen her grip on the knife. Chris pulled it from her hand. Miri hugged Sai, burying her face in his shoulder, muffling her sobs. Chris placed the knife on the desk near the door as Sai comforted Miri. Chris then helped the injured prisoner back up onto the bed. "Why don't you take her back to her room." Chris said. "I'll get the doctor to see to this guy."

Sai nodded. "Okay." he said, guiding Miriallia to her quarters. "And I accept your apology."

"You just had to make those stupid comments, Dearka." the other prisoner said once the two were gone.

"Shut up." Dearka said. "How was I suppose to know that she'd react like that?!"

Chris sighed. He felt a headache coming on. "Do I even want to guess what you said?"

The other prisoner chuckled. "Probably not." he said. "When that girl, Dearka started taunting her about how upset she was and how soldiers shouldn't be crybabies. And he made a really bad comment about how maybe she's upset because her boyfriend got himself killed."

"That's what I thought." Chris said, rubbing his forehead. "You know, her boyfriend died in that last battle. And everyone's having a hard time right now. In fact, I wouldn't mind having a piece of you after what you said."

"Hey! How was I suppose to know that!" Dearka said.

"It doesn't matter." the other prisoner said. "That's not something that you joke about! That girl should have cut your balls for that!"

"Hey!! Don't even joke about that!"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll get the doctor to patch that up." he said, leaving the room.

* * *

A Short While

The doctor had patched Dearka's wound and now a pair of guards were escorting them to the brig. Then when they reached JOSH-A, they'd be sent to some some POW camp until the war ended. Something Saul was not looking forward to.

"Saul! Dearka!" a voice called out from a cell as they entered the brig.

A very, very familiar voice. A voice that they shouldn't be hearing. The two ZAFT pilots turned to the first cell. Sitting on the bunk was...Nicol. Alive and well. "N...Nicol...You're alive..." a speechless Dearka managed to say.

Saul started to laugh. "I don't believe it! How did you survive that?! You have got to be the luckiest guy in ZAFT!" he said as a grin spread across his face.

"Move it." one of their escorts said, jamming his gun into Saul's back.

"Okay. Okay. We're moving." Saul said. "Jeez. We just meet a friend that we thought was dead and you guys won't even let us talk to him."

"You two are going into the two cells next to his." the man said. "So it doesn't matter."

The guards opened the second cell and put Saul in it, then they placed Dearka in the third cell. "How did you survive Nicol?" Deakra asked. "I mean that explosion...We all thought that you were dead."

"Yeah. I'm surprised I survived myself." Nicol said. "I guess I was just lucky that the Strike's sword didn't hit the cockpit."

"I'll say." Saul said. "You got a rabbit's foot on you or something. Or maybe you got a four leaf clover hiding in that green hair of your's."

All three friends started laughing. And for that moment, the war didn't exist, nor were they soldiers. Instead, for that brief moment, they were a trio of teenage friends, laughing and joking around.

* * *

"We've got a problem!" the infamous Mr. Pink said, bouncing around in the backyard of the Clyne residence.

"Mr. Pink! Don't go there!" Lacus called out as the pink Haro entered the glass sunroom.

The Haro landed on the bed in the sunroom. Lacus followed after it and grabbed it from the bed before it could wake up the boy in the bed. There was a groan and the boy's eyes opened. "Oh. Good morning, Sleepy Head." Lacus cheerfully said.

Kira blinked a few times. "Where...Where am I..."

* * *

That's it for now. I don't know why, but I really loved that little jab at Athrun at the end of the scene with Cagalli. It's tossing salt on the wound, but I loved it. You kill your best friend for killing your friend, only to find out the friend you though was dead, is alive. Meaning that you killed your best friend for nothing. Truly the pointlessness of war.

Please Review!!


	19. Phase Eighteen: Gathering Darkness

Yo everybody! Got another chapter for you all. But before that begins, I have one thing to take care of first. I'm still struggling to come up with names for those two Destiny MS and few people have pointed out that I use names based off of what they can do. But I still can't quite come up with names for them yet. So I figured that I so reveal the suits and see if anyone can help me with it.

"_Start another war? Of course we are! We exist only to fight in wars and kill people like you, Coordinator! Like all soldiers do! If you're too weak to understand that than you don't belong in that machine!" _**Classified  
**Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-X44S **Name Classified  
**Unit Type: Prototype commander type mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Variable Phase Shift Armor, Deuterion Beam Energy Supply System  
Armaments: 4x MMI-GAU1717 12.5 mm CIWS, 2x 'Cerebus' beam revolver with bayonette, stored on hip holders, 1x MMI-558 'Tempest' beam sword, stored on the inside of the shield, 1x MA-BAR834 beam sniper rifle, stored on the back of the waist, 2x MMI-M826 'Hydra' Gatling beam cannon, mounted on flight pack, 1x shield, mounted on the left arm, 2x grapplers, capable of producing electrical shocks, mounted within forearms  
Pilot: **Classified  
**Appearance: resembles the Sandrock Gundam of Gundam Wing (Anime Version) but with the GOUF Ignited's flight pack and the Gatling guns.  
Color: the same as the Sandrock but with black trim on the shoulders instead of white and black shins. And minus that green circle on the chest or whatever it is.  
Info: This particular mobile suit incorporates a number of technologies that would later be used in the GOUF series. Including the integrated flight pack and the Tempest beam sword. The grapplers of the MS possess a longer range than GOUF's heat rods and have a more powerful electrical shock, capable of temporarily disabling an enemy MS. However, it lacks the ability to be used effectively as a whip like the GOUF's heat rods and is more of a tool than weapon. While it lacks the transforming capabilities of the Gaia, Abyss and Chaos and the Silhouette system of Impulse, it is never the less, a powerful MS at both long and close range combat. Especially in the hands of skilled pilot.

The next MS, I'm still playing around with. But since it won't appear until the appearance of the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice, that does matter all that much. Basically, appearance wise, it'll be Epyon of Gundam Wing but with elements of the Strike Freedom incorporated into it. But I'm still playing with most of the weapons, so I'm not revealing them yet simply because I'm not sure the weapons I have for it will remain on the final version. Of course, I've also had some bizarre weapon ideas as well as ideas that just seem too impossible to use. Like a multi-phase beam cannon mounted in the head of the MS, similar to the Raider's beam cannon. I'm also thinking of incorporating elements of the Druggies' weapons into the MS like the plasma induction cannon from the Forbidden. (I love the curving beams of that weapon.) But there are two weapons that I knew from the start that I was going to have and I'll list those. Oh, and the classified in the Special Equipment, there's a good reason for that.

"_Much of what I have done is unforgivable. But with this I can at least atone for some of my sins. And bring those responsible for all this to justice." _**Classified  
**Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-X21A **Name Classified  
**Unit Type: Prototype assault mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact hyper Deuterion nuclear reactor  
Special Equipment: Variable Phase Shift Armor, Neutron Jammer Canceler, **Classified  
**Confirmed Armaments: 1x 'Excalibur' beam saber, stored on the back of waist, 1x shield mounted on left arm, 1x 'Hellfire Whip' heat rod, retractable, mounted on shield  
Pilot: **Classified  
**Info: The third nuclear MS built by Terminal during the Second Bloody Valentine war. A special feature of the beam saber is the ability for the pilot to adjust the length and width of the blade. This can be especially deadly in the middle of a sword duel with another MS, as the pilot could alter the saber's dimensions in the middle of the fight, catching his opponents off guard. The heat rod differs from the GOUF's, in that it cannot generate electrical shocks. Instead, it has two separate states. It's 'cold' state, where it is an effective whip, and it's 'hot' state, where energy flows through the whip, causing it to glow a reddish-orange, hence the name. Instead of wrapping around things, it cuts through them like a sword in this state.

Disclaimer: I don't own Saya Hawke or the Massacre Gundam. Those belong to GundamGirlie456 and SOLDIER-MS respectively.

**Phase Eighteen: Gathering Darkness**

JOSH-A

The Next Morning

"The Archangel. I never thought it would make it here." Colonel Moore said as they watched the video feed of the Archangel entering JOSH-A.

"You think maybe Halberton's force of will protected it?" Vice Admiral Michaels jokingly said.

"Those young Coordinators were the ones who really protected it."

"Captain Sutherland, don't be so sure of that. Luckily, the destruction of the Strike and the declaration of it's pilot as MIA, can be considered a fortunate accident for us." Captain Oswald said. "A shame the same fate couldn't have befallen the Raven and it's pilot."

"The GAT series is going to be our main weapon. We're going to get a lot of use out of them in the future. And we don't want people saying they were operated by Coordinator children." Sutherland said.

"You're right about that." Moore said.

Michaels hit the table with his fists. "It just seems like glaring evidence of our own inferiority!"

Sutherland pushed a button on his console. The screen displayed the schematics of the GAT-X131 Calamity, the GAT-X151 Massacre, the GAT-X252 Forbidden, and the GAT-X370 Raider. "All of the Strike's and the Raven's technology has already been transferred and furthered developed. And this time, it's we who will benefit from it."

"What have you told Azreal?" Oswald asked.

"I told him that we'd take all the necessary steps to address these problems. This was all an unfortunate situation. Just like what is going to happen here. All of this is for the preservation of our blue and pure world."

* * *

A Small Town

Outside the Carpentaria Base

"I understand that it's warming up in Alaska."

"Indeed. But it's only going to get hotter." the man replied.

He shrugged. "How's Josh?"

"He's good. He's almost finished moving. And that reminds me. Mr. Angel gave me something to give to you." the man said, reaching into his pocket and handing him a disk.

"Thank you." Zane said with a grin as he took the disk. "I'm sure that this will be quite helpful.

* * *

Aprilius One

"Obani's Compromise Plan? What's the point in bringing something like this to the table now?" Patrick Zala, the newly elected PLANT Supreme Council Chairman said. "Operation Spitbreak will proceed as planned."

"I'm certainly not saying that we accept it as is. But if we proceed with the Operation, there is no doubt that we will stuff casualties if we go into battle." Seigal said. "We have a chance to avoid that. Shouldn't we at least make the attempt?"

"You raise a valid point, but you can't expect us to agree to these ridiculous demands." Ezalia Joule said. "They're acting like they've won the war."

"Never the less. We can us this to call for a temporary ceasefire and return to the negotiating table. It would give the men and women actually fighting this war a chance to rest." Ian Kessel said. "And it could actually end the war peacefully. We owe to everyone that's fighting in war, their families and those that have been lost, on both sides, to try."

Many in the Council were still surprised by Ian's steadfast determination. His son had been declared missing in action, likely dead. And yet unlike Tad Elsman, whose son was also missing, and Yuri Amalfi, whose son had been killed, who had slipped into the background of the Council, Ian was still just as strong and as determined as he was before. Much to annoyance of Patrick Zala.

"This is only their crude way of buying time." Jeremy Maxwell said.

"Of course. They know we're going to launch a massive operation soon. But truthfully, it's unlikely that they could fortify Panama any further without dangerously weakening other important bases. And I don't think Operation Spitbreak will be a success in the long run." Ian said. "I've been looking at the numbers and estimates for the Operation and well as the latest troop estimates at Panama. And frankly, this Operation could be damaging for us in the long run."

"It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that the best target for us to hit is Panama. The loss of Panama would cripple their space forces. But the number of troops at Panama will guarantee at least loss of a forty to forty-five percent of our forces. Our holdings on Earth will be critically weakened afterwards and the Earth Forces could likely take back much of what we've gained." Ian said. "Unless...You've got a hidden ace up your sleeve Zala. Something that you've kept hidden from us."

Patrick Zala scowled. The bastard was trying to ruin everything! If he revealed Operation Spitbreak's true target, Clyne's supporters would try to stop it because they never voted on an attack on JOSH-A. The weak fools didn't realize anything! Hacking off the limbs of beast will only weaken it. You have to cut off the head of the beast to kill it.

Worse, the more they delayed, the greater the chance that the Earth Forces may get wind of his plan. Ruining everything.

"No. I have not kept anything important from the Council." he calmly said. "You are underestimating our forces and overestimating the strength of the Earth Forces. Operation Spitbreak will be a major success and help bring a quick end to the war. And there is no reason to consider Obani's proposal at this point. Operation Spitbreak will go ahead as planned."

"Arrogance in war, only leads to disaster. You might wish to remember that Zala." Kessel said. "For if Spitbreak fails, it will those fighting this war that will suffer for it. Not us."

* * *

The Office of Ian Kessel

An Hour and a Half Later

Ian sighed as he sat down at his desk, letting his fatigue show. He glanced at the framed pictures on his desk. Pictures of his wife and children. His eyes lingering on a picture of his son.

Missing, presumed dead. That's what they had listed him as.

He never should have pushed him as hard as he did. He wished he had told Saul how proud he had been of him.

_BEEP BEEP_

He sighed as his mask returned. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you sir. But we just receiving a communication from Commander Kessel. Shall I patch it through?"

"Yes. And make sure that it's completely secure."

Diana's face appeared on the screen in his desk. "Father." she said with nod. "Has there been any word?"

"No. They haven't found any trace of him."

There was a slight frown on her face. Most people won't have noticed it. But he knew his daughter. She was a woman skilled at keeping her emotions from showing. That frown spoke volumes on how she was feeling.

"I see. What about Operation Spitbreak?"

"It's still on. What do you think of Zala's plan? I know he's asked for the 11th Fleet to be with the first assault wave."

"It's risky. Zala thinks that Earth Forces can't possibly beat us. His arrogance and false sense of invincibility will get good men and women killed." she said. "And Ajay has a bad feeling about the Operation."

"And you trust his gut?"

"After Endymion, there's not a single person in the Fleet that would doubt his gut."

Ian chuckled. "Trusting someone's feelings over logic? That's not like you."

"Don't ask me how, but somehow, he is able to tell when something bad is going to happen." Diana said. "None of us doubt his sixth sense for danger."

"That reminds of paper I read some time ago about a theory of the next step of human evolution."

"You mean the SEED Factor?"

"No. It was from the same two doctors. But this was their last paper a few years ago, before they died. It was of a separate phenomenon. They claimed that people could possess unusual mental abilities. Among them, a sixth sense for these kind of things." Ian said. "They even claimed, that while 0.001 percent of the human population were born with these abilities, estimated one percent could develop these abilities given the right circumstances. And that those numbers were rising with each generation. They claimed these people were latest step in humanity's evolution towards becoming a new type of being and weren't dependent on being Coordinator or Natural. In fact, they dubbed those people Newtypes."

"Interesting. I'll have to take look at that." Diana said.

"Indeed. But we're getting off topic. If you fear the Operation, what will you do?"

"I think we'll be delayed due to mechanical problems. It happens from time to time with all the upgrades we give to our mobile suits and ships." Diana said. "We'll probably have to call the Junk Guild for some assistance."

"For the life of me, I'll never understand how Alaric managed to create that private arrangement you have with them."

"He promised them access to any new ZAFT technology he got his hands on."

"Speaking of new technology. Our new Chairman has revealed our newest, greatest weapons. New mobile suits using technology obtained from the stolen Earth Forces' mobile suits. And they're nuclear powered."

"Your joking."

"No. Zala's come up with N-Jammer Cancelers."

"What is that fool thinking?!"

"He doesn't care. So long as all the Naturals die." Ian said with a sigh. "Someone has to stop him."

"You're planning something, aren't you?"

"Not just me. Clyne and many others that feel that Zala is leading ZAFT down a road that we must not take..."

* * *

Carpentaria Base

Athrun stared out the window as ZAFT crews were rushing to prepare for Operation Spitbreak. A few hours after waking up in the Orb vessel, he been transferred to a ZAFT vessel and taken back to Carpentaria. Where he was currently recovering.

"It's Le Creuset. I'm coming in."

The door opened and Commander Le Creuset entered. Athrun straitened up and moved to salute his commanding officer "You're still injured. Don't even think of getting up." Creuset said.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir." Athrun quietly said.

"Nonsense. You were splendid. I heard about everything."

"Splendid?"

As far as Athrun was concerned, there was nothing splendid about what he had done.

"I should be the one apologizing for not getting you help sooner. The sacrifices made were significant. But I'm afraid they couldn't be helped." Creuset said. "It's a testament to how formidable your friend really was."

A fresh wave of guilt hit Athrun.

"I know it's been a difficult series of battles for you. Miguel, Nicol, Commander Waltfeld, Commander Morassim. They, and many others, have lost their lives to him. Since you are the one to defeat him, your skills are highly valued by the homeland. The decision has been made to honor you with the Order of the Nebula."

Athrun didn't deserve a medal as far as he was concerned.

"Also, much to my regret, you've been transferred to the Special Forces reporting directly to the National Defense Committee."

Athrun looked up at his Commander. "Transferred? But Commander-"

"You're a top gun now, Athrun. You are to be the pilot of our latest mobile suit. You've been instructed to return to the homeland and receive the new mobile suit."

"But sir! This is too much. I-"

"Your father is now the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council. But you already knew that."

"Yes."

"Chairman Zala has been pushing for a quick end to this war." Creuset said, putting his hand on Athrun's shoulder. "Personally, I would like nothing more than for this war to end. For that reason, I want you to do what ever you can to bring this war to a quick end."

"I understand sir." Athrun said. "But there's something else."

"Yes?"

"When I was on the Orb vessel, they said that they recovered the remains of the Blitz, but they didn't find any sign of his body. Nicol could still be alive."

"I see. But that isn't enough to change his status to MIA."

"But Commander! What if he's still alive?!"

"And what if he isn't? His family is still grieving over his loss. If you gave them that hope, only to later take it from them. The pain they feel now will pale compared to that pain. Do you really want them to feel that?"

* * *

JOSH-A

The Next Day

Murrue, Nartarle, the rest of the senior bridge crew, Chief Murdoch, Mu and Chris all sat in a group of chairs in the center of the room. They were waiting for the officer in charge of the hearing on everything that had happened since Heliopolis. A trio of officers entered the room. Everyone stood up and saluted. The officers returned the salute. "I am Captain William Sutherland of the General Staff. I've been put in charge of all instructions and deliberations regrading the Eight Fleet's Archangel." the officer said as he took his seat. "Please be seated."

"We've already retrieved the logs from the NavComm and are analyzing them as we speak. I must say Captain Ramius, your vessel's combat record is impressive. And now I like you to give us a detailed report and testimony on the preceding events. This hearing is being run according to the military regulations for a court marshal. And in keeping with procedure, anything said here will be entered into the records. I trust you will all tell the truth."

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

Docked at Carpentaria

Two Hours Later

Both Zane and Yzak left their quarters, heading for the briefing room. Commander Le Creuset was going to brief them on Opertaion Spitbreak before the Cousteau left Carpentaria. They rounded a corner, coming face to face with a violet haired girl in a red ZAFT carrying a travel bag. Upon seeing them, the girl dropped her bag. "Sirs!" the girl said, saluting them. "Saya Hawke, reporting for duty, sirs!"

Yzak and Zane returned the salute, but both had the same thought running through their heads. _'Rookie.'_

"So your one of the replacement pilots." Yzak said. "Where's the others?"

"Sir?"

"The other replacement pilots. And stop calling us sir. We're all the same rank here, Rookie."

"I'm the only one, sir-er...Yzak. I've been assigned to replace Nicol Amalfi." Saya said.

"What?! There's only two of us left and HQ assigns us only one replacement pilot!" Yzak said.

"This is your first assignment, isn't it?" Zane said.

"Yes sir." Saya replied. "But don't worry. I was in the top of my class."

"That's as obvious as the red coat you're wearing." Zane said.

"What the hell is HQ thinking?!" a very annoyed Yzak said. "Sending us only one replacement, whose as green as they get! And on the eve of a major operation too!"

"Sorry."

Yzak sighed. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault you're here." Yzak said. "Do you at least have a decent machine?"

"I've been assigned a DINN."

"Then get your stuff stowed away. We have a briefing with the Commander in fifteen minutes." Yzak said.

Right away sir. Just one question."

"What?"

"Which way to the pilot quarters?" Saya asked with an embarrassed grin on her face.

Yzak slapped his forehead while Zane seemed to struggle to keep a straight face. "How did you ever become a pilot, much less a Red Coat?" Yzak said.

"Actually, I'm quite skilled in the cockpit of a mobile suit." Saya said. "In fact, I broke several records at the Academy. Including your record on the final exam."

"Well, than you're not completely-Wait! What?! You beat my record?!"

"Yes sir. By five seconds."

Yzak opened his mouth like he was going to say something. But Zane cleared his throat, interrupting him. "The quarters are down the hall. Take the first right and you're there." he said. "The briefing is in the Main Briefing Room, near the bridge. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. We'll see you there."

* * *

JOSH-A

To Chris, the whole hearing was a joke. They were blaming Captain Ramius and Admiral Halburton for what happened to Heliopolis, the destruction of the 8th Fleet and just about anything else they could tie them to. But the vast majority of the blame was being thrown on both Kira and himself. Because they were Coordinators and the pilots of the mobile suits. Sutherland was manipulating the facts and in some cases, ignoring the facts, all to shift the blame for the destruction of Heliopolis, Artemis and the Eighth Fleet as a result of their being Coordinators. Hell, there was no doubt in Chris's mind that if he could, he would have blamed the two of them for the entire war if he could.

"And now for the final part. We have a number of question that we would like to ask Ensign Dante." Captain Sutherland said.

Chris stood up, as ready as he could be for whatever they could throw at him. "Sir."

"You were a civilian living in Heliopolis, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"But tell me, where did you live before that?"

"Chris scowled. "Junius Seven."

"So not only are you a Coordinator, but you also lived in the PLANTs. Whom we are currently at war with. And not only that, you're from the very PLANT that was destroyed by a group of radical Natural terrorists and started this war." Sutherland said. "Tell me, your record doesn't say where your parents are. I was wondering if you could shed some light on this matter."

"They're dead sir." Chris said, barely keeping himself from yelling.

Sutherland was lying about not knowing his parents' fate. He knew it. Everyone from the Archangel knew it. Hell, chances were that everyone in the room knew it.

"And how did they die?"

"The Bloody Valentine Tragedy."

"I see." Sutherland said. "And you and your sister were sent to live with your aunt and uncle at Heliopolis before it happened. Who just so happened to work a Morgenroete. And as it turns out, worked on G-Project. That's quite a coincidence."

"I don't understand what you're getting at sir." Chris said.

"Someone had to have tipped off ZAFT about the Archangel and the mobile suits being built there."

"And you suggesting that my sister and I are ZAFT spies?"

"Not at all. Though you do bring up an interesting point." Sutherland said, a slight smirk on his lips. "Unlike Ensign Yamato, who had never set foot in the PLANTs, you two grew up there. And your parents and home were destroyed by Natural terrorists. Most people would have a grudge against Naturals for that kind of thing. They would likely seek vengeance against those that were responsible and against the Earth Alliance for failing to stop such an attack from happening right underneath their noses. Perhaps they'd seek out secret information to give ZAFT as vengeance for what happened to them."

"I didn't do any of that!" an angry Chris said.

"Who ever said you did?" Sutherland said. "I was merely speculating on how ZAFT could have found out about Heliopolis. Now, moving on. The incident in the Debris Belt with Miss Lacus Clyne. According to the records, you, along with, at the time, acting Ensign Yamato, acting Crewmen Argyle, Haw, and Dante released Miss Clyne from her cell. And then you personally brought her to the ZAFT Fleet pursing the Archangel at the time. Why did you feel the need to disobey orders and endanger the ship by taking her to the ZAFT Fleet?"

"Because it was wrong for us to use her as a hostage." Chris said. "And given the choice, I would have done it again without hesitation. Do you plan to punish me for that incident _sir_?"

"No. Captain Ramius decision was the correct one. You were not an official soldier at the time, so we cannot punish you for that." Sutherland said. "However, this all goes to further show your the _uncertainly_ of your loyalties. I can't help but wonder which side you'll ultimately side with. With the Earth Alliance or with your homeland."

"I have never done anything to betray the Archangel or it's crew!" Chris said, barely keeping his voice under the level of a shout.

"At the moment, yes. But who can tell what the future will bring." Sutherland said. "How do we know that you won't have a change of heart in the middle of a battle and betray us?"

"Why don't you just say it?! You think I'm a ZAFT spy!"

"I wouldn't go that far." Sutherland said. "But there is a distinct possibility that you could be a spy."

"Finally, there is the incident with the shuttle of Heliopolis civilians that was destroyed alongside the 8th Fleet." Sutherland said. "The logs aren't clear as to what happened, other then the Raven and a GINN were fighting near it, when it was destroyed."

"Are you accusing me of that too?!!" Chris shouted. "I tried to protect the shuttle from the GINN!!"

"No. You miss understood me. I wasn't accusing you of destroying the shuttle." Sutherland said. "While we don't know what destroyed the shuttle, we do know that you didn't fire a single shot until after it was destroyed. I was curious about why you didn't fire on the GINN before the shuttle was destroyed. You claimed to be protecting the shuttle. But if that were true, then why didn't you fire at the GINN?"

Everyone was staring at him now. Including the crew of the Archangel. Chris knew they were all probably thinking the same thing. _'Why didn't he fire at the GINN?'_

He wasn't even sure what to say. If he told them the truth, Sutherland would probably throw the book at him. And probably claim that it was proof that he was spy or something like that. So his only option was to lie. "I was afraid to fire."

"Afraid to fire? You mean to say that you were afraid to fire on one of your own. Then how can we trust that this won't happen again."

"Actually sir. I was afraid to fire with the shuttle so close to us. I feared that if I missed, the shuttle would have been hit and destroyed." he said. "Are you saying sir, that I should have fired when a civilian craft was in danger of being hit by a missed shot."

"No. Of course not. But I'm surprised that with your _improved_ abilities, that you won't be able to hit him."

"I'm good. But I'm not that good." he replied. "Coordinators aren't all powerful like that."

* * *

The Cousteau

Zane, Yzak and Saya sat in the front row of the briefing room, along with a group of regular ZAFT pilots. Commander Le Creuset entered the room. All the pilots stood up and saluted. Creuset returned the salute. "At ease." he said.

The pilots all took their seats as Creuset walked in front of the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Operation Spitbreak." Rau said as the screen behind him displayed a map of the Operation. "Chairman Zala's plan to cripple the Earth Forces and hopefully, bring a quick end to the war, by attacking their last Mass Driver. Now the first wave will consist of a massive drop of mobile suits from space as well as large deployment of aquatic mobile suits. These units will disrupt their naval forces and coastal gun emplacements for the second wave."

"That is where we come in. The second wave will consist of an airborne attack from sub carriers as well the deployment of landers carrying BuCUEs and ZuOOTs and the another mobile suit detachment from space. Our job will be aid in clearing paths for the ground mobile suits and ultimately, delivering the killing blow to the Panama base."

"Now, since Zane and Yzak are two most experienced pilots here, I'm dividing you all into two groups. One under Zane's command and the other under Yzak's. Miss Hawke, you will be Yzak's second. Stick close to him and follow his orders."

"Yes sir." Saya said.

* * *

Rau Le Creuset's Quarters

A Short While Later

"Azreal has come through for you." Zane said, pulling out the disk. "A clear route through JOSH-A's defenses and the access codes. I still don't see why you need to go."

Rau smiled and took the disk. "It's quite simple." he said. "To ensure that the Earth Forces' top brass, do not have a change of heart at the last minute. The Cyclops System must be activated. At the moment, most ZAFT soldiers don't particularly hate Naturals. But after JOSH-A, that will change. For both sides."

"And of course, the 11th Fleet will be right in center of that." Rau added.

"You convinced Zala to have them assigned to the Operation?" Zane asked.

"Yes. That was a difficult thing to do. He didn't want them to get too much glory for the Operation's success. But I convinced him to have the Fleet assigned to the first wave, so they suffer the most casualties possible. Including the possibility of Commander Kessel dying." Rau replied. "He was particularly pleased with that possibility. It seems Kessel hasn't stopped battling Zala in the Council. And Zala hopes that the death of Kessel's remaining child will destroy the man."

"If it wasn't for the fact that the Operation was going to fail, he'd be pleased that the 11th Fleet is going to be wiped out." Zane said.

* * *

JOSH-A

An Half Hour Later

"This concludes our hearing. Thank you all for your patience in answering our questions. We'll be in touch with you concerning the Archangel's next assignment." Sutherland said, sitting up. "Expect for Commander La Flaga, Lieutenant Badgiruel and Crewman Allster. All other crew members will continue to stay on standby aboard the Archangel."

Mu asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "Sir. What about us?"

"Orders are to have you three transferred." Sutherland replied. "Report to the Personal Office at 0800 sharp."

"Sir. Why is Crewman Allster being transferred?" Natarle asked.

"You heard her words when she join the military." Sutherland said. "Seeing how she's a member of the Allster family, I'm sure those words with touch the hearts of many people. As well as her motives for joining the military. Her contributions don't necessarily have to be on the frontline."

* * *

Carpentaria

Athrun placed Nicol's music sheets into his suitcase and then closed it. He walked out of the room, heading for his waiting craft. He stepped into the hallway. Yzak was waiting there for him.

Athrun smiled and nodded at his friend. "Don't worry. My turn will come." Yzak said. "Though how could they pick someone like you for the Special Forces?"

Athrun set down his suitcase and extended his uninjured hand. "Sorry about how things turn out. Thanks for your help."

The two shook hands. "Goodbye." Athrun said before heading down the hall.

"Next time, I'll be the one in charge. Don't get killed until then, okay?" Yzak said as he left.

Athrun turned his head back. "You got it Yzak."

* * *

The Archangel

Chris walked into the mess hall. Flay was there, eating her dinner. She looked up and smiled. "Hi. How was it?"

"Awful. The guy running the show was jackass. Kept blaming us for what happened. Especially Kira and me."

"That's terrible. The two of you did everything you could to protect everyone." she said.

Chris sighed. "They don't care. All they see is that we're Coordinators and nothing else." he said. "There's something I need to tell you in private."

A few minutes later, they entered his quarters. "What is it?" Flay asked.

"You're being reassigned." Chris replied as he sat down on his bed.

"What? Why?"

"Sounds like they want to use you and what happened to you for propaganda." Chris said. "You're suppose to report to the Personal Office at eight tomorrow morning."

"That soon?"

"Yeah." he said with a sigh. "Tolle's dead, Kira's missing and now you're being reassigned. I honestly don't know what's going to happen next."

Suddenly, Flay's lips met his own. He returned the kiss, falling backwards onto the bed, Flay landing on top of him.

* * *

And I'll end it here before I have to raise the rating on this story.

Now, I didn't do any of the scenes of with Kira and Lacus, I'm saving that for the next chapter. Along with the beginning of Spitbreak.

I particularly enjoyed doing the scene between Chris and Captain Sutherland. The whole idea of this came to mind a long, long time ago, when I first watched SEED and I wondered how it would have been if Kira had been there. Given the way Sutherland treated the Archangel's crew and his ties to Blue Cosmos, he would have viciously torn into Kira. And I used that as the base for that scene. I actually had thought of switching Kira and Chris out in that final battle before Alaska. But the scenes with Kira and Lacus in PLANTs, are among the most important scenes for Kira's character development. And I didn't want the Raven to replace the Strike in that situation. Which meant that the only way was for the two to switch machines or something like that. And really didn't like that. I had also thought of having both Kira and Chris go MIA in that battle, be taken to the PLANTs and get new machines. And that was what I was initially leaning towards. But I changed that for something I that found much, much better.

As always, review!


	20. Phase Nineteen: Seen and Unseen

Yo everybody. Before we begin, I want to give a special thanks to my new (and first) Beta Reader, Bradley McCloud.

**Phase Nineteen: Seen and Unseen**

Clyne Residence

Aprilius City

"We've got a problem!" the infamous Mr. Pink announced excitedly, bouncing around in the backyard of the Clyne residence.

"Mr. Pink! Don't go there!" Lacus called out as the pink Haro entered the glass sunroom.

The Haro landed on the bed situated in the sunroom. Lacus followed after it and grabbed it from the bed before it could wake the boy up. However, the moment Haro landed beside him, there was a groan and the boy's eyes opened. Lacus noticed this and cheerfully said, "Oh. Good morning, Sleepy Head."

The brown haired boy, disoriented, blinked a few times before his eyes finally focused in the harsh lights of what he assumed to be the sun. "Where...Where am I..."

"There will be time for that later," she instantly replied.

His violet eyes locked with the pink haired girl beside him. "You're Miss Lacus..."

"Oh my. Just plain Lacus is fine, Kira. Okay?" the songstress said smiling. "I'm so pleased to hear that you remembered my name."

Haro hopped off of Lacus' hands and back onto the bed next to Kira. "No problem! No problem!" it chirped happily.

"So, has our sleeper awaken?" a raven haired man asked as he entered the sunroom from the garden.

Lacus glanced at the blind man who entered before responding. "Yes, Reverend Malchio."

"You must be surprised waking up here." Malchio said. "Miss Lacus was insistent that we bring your bed out here."

"Perhaps because it feels better to be outside than inside, don't you think?"

Kira glanced around at his surroundings noting how unfamiliar it is. "How did I get here?"

"I found you lying unconscious in my garden," Malchio answered. "You were injured and were in need of assistance. So I brought you here."

Suddenly, as if a dense fog in his mind had instantly cleared away, memories of what happened came flooding back to him. His vicious battle with Athrun. Athrun killing Tolle. The Aegis grabbing onto the Strike and self-destructing. The memories kept pouring back like being hit by a ton of bricks. Kira's breathing became labored as he started to sweat.

"What's wrong Kira?" a concerned Lacus asked as soon as she noticed this.

Despite all the horrible images, there was something Kira didn't understand. "But...Why...Why am I..."

"Because you possess the seed." Malchio said. "That is why."

Kira shot up, clutching the blanket. Grasping for air. "Kira!" Lacus said as she leaned over him, trying to see what was wrong.

"There's a problem!" Haro chirped.

Tears poured down Kira's face. He was in pain. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Lacus reached out and held one of his hands to comfort him. "I...fought Athrun..." he said. "I...I couldn't have survived..."

"Kira..." Lacus said, trying to comfort the boy.

* * *

Aboard the Odin

"As you all know, we've been ordered to participate in Operation Spitbreak," Commander Diana Kessel announced to the gathered officers and pilots of the 11th Fleet. "Specifically, we've been ordered to be apart of the first attack group dropped from space. By _Chairman_ Zala personally."

"Hmph. So Zala's putting us in the most dangerous part of the Operation," Basque Gideon said, punching his palm. "They won't stand a chance against us."

"That's true," Lisa DeCosta agreed. "But don't forget, we'll be fighting on Earth. Something we've never done before."

"Gah...I hate Earth's gravity," Herbert Von Reinhardt complained.

"Oh shut up," Hilda retorted, punching her teammate in the shoulder.

"Enough," Diana said, silencing the group. "We won't be participating in the Operation."

Most of her gathered subordinates all stared at her as if she had grown a second head. They had never backed down from an assignment. "But why?" Lisa asked.

"Ajay has approached me with his increasing feelings of dread over this Operation."

Those that had wondered why they weren't going had their questions all answered by that statement alone. Something bad was going to happen. Ajay's sixth sense about these things was never once wrong. If it wasn't for his feelings of dread at Endymion Crater, none of them would have escaped in time before the Cyclops System was activated.

"We will report that we are having mechanical problems and will be unable to arrive in time for the battle," Diana stated. "And this will give us time to get in touch with the Junk Guild."

"You think they got a message from the Commander for us?" Ajay asked.

"Possibly. It's been awhile since we've received a message from him. Either way, the next couple of days will certainly be interesting."

* * *

Aprilius City

An Hour Later

Kira sat in his bed, thinking about everything that had happened. He wondered about everyone else on the aboard Archangel. He knew Tolle was gone, but did everyone else make it out alive? Had they made it to Alaska? Or...well, he didn't want to think about that.

"It was inevitable, I guess," Kira spoke out as Lacus placed a cup of tea on the small table next to the bed. "Because he thought I killed his friend, he killed my friend. And that's why..."

"So you tried to kill Athrun with all your might and he tried to do the same to you," Lacus finished. "None of that could be help, now could it?"

Kira glanced at her. "Because that's war," she continued. "And you were both fighting against the enemy. Am I mistaken?"

No, she wasn't. And as much as Kira hated to admit it, he and Athrun had gone from best friends to mortal enemies all because of this stupid and meaningless war.

* * *

The Archangel

The Next Day

Flay opened her eyes. Siting on the side of the bed was Chris who putting a shirt on. She sat up pulling the blanket up to cover her naked body. "Good morning," she finally said. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to seven," he replied as he put the jacket of his uniform on.

"I have just over an hour then," she said lowly before moving to grab her scattered clothes.

"Yeah..." Chris said. "Before you go, there's something I want to give you."

"What?"

Chris reached underneath his collar and pulled out his grandfather's dog tags. "Here," he said handing them to her. "These belonged to my grandfather. He claimed that they protected him. I thought it was foolish before, but I've had bizarre luck ever since I first stepped into the Raven. And I want you to have it so that bizarre luck can protect you since I won't be able to anymore once you leave the ship."

She grabbed his keepsake, smiling just a little. "Thank you." Flay said putting the tags around her neck.

* * *

ZAFT Fleet

In Earth Orbit

The ZAFT fleet was abuzz with activity. GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Types patrolled the area around the fleet watching for any possible threats. GINNs and CGUEs left their Nazca class and Laurasia class warships to board the drop pods tethered to the large dropships awaiting for their orders to launch into the Earth's atmosphere.

"Where the hell is Kessel and the 11th Fleet?" an annoyed Admiral Darlian yelled. "They're suppose to be in the first wave!"

"Message coming through, sir. It's from the 11th Fleet. Reads; Unable to arrive in time for the start of the Operation due to mechanical problems. Will join up with assault group when able to."

Darlian slammed his fist into the armrest of his chair. "Hmph! It serves them right!" Darlian said in contempt of the 11th Fleet. "They always think that they're the best and that normal military hardware isn't good enough for them. They waste their time installing black market parts into perfectly good mobile suits and warships. But we'll show them. This Operation will succeed without their help."

* * *

Jachin Due Control Center

_'It's time. Time to cut off the beast's head.'_

Patrick Zala stood up from his chair on the upper balcony of the control center. "As we embark on this operation, it is my strongest wish that bring the war to swift conclusion!" he said, his voice being transmitted to the ZAFT forces participating in the Operation. "Inspiring the hope in us all that this will lead to true freedom and justice! Let Operation Spitbreak now commence!"

The officers a floor below him scrambled to relay the orders to the ZAFT forces on standby.

"Message from Central Command. Target for Operation Spitbreak is...JOSH-A, Alaska."

Momentary confusion flooded the ZAFT forces. Just about everyone thought they were going to attack Panama and take the last Mass Driver from the Earth Forces. Not attack their central headquarters. But this confusion quickly subsided and everyone resumed their duties.

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

"JOSH-A?" Saya said sticking her head out of her DINN. "I thought we were attacking Panama."

"It appears that Panama was a feint to draw the Earth Forces away from JOSH-A," Zane said from the cockpit of his GINN. "A clever ploy."

"Yeah. I knew Chairman Zala was put in charge for a reason," Yzak said from the Duel.

* * *

The Odin

"JOSH-A?"

"Yes, Commander," Captain Lee said. "They just announced it. Spitbreak's true target wasn't Panama, but Alaska."

"It's a clever gamble," Diana said. "Draw the enemy's strength to where you're most likely to attack and then attack where they least expect it."

"Do you think it will work?"

"No," Diana said. "Ajay felt that something was wrong with the Operation and hence, there's no doubt in my mind that it will fail. The real question is, how badly will it fail?"

* * *

Kira, Lacus and Reverend Malchio sat in sunroom drinking tea as the rain poured down outside. Kira had asked if there was any way to get back to Earth. Which Lacus's father was checking on for him.

"It's impossible. Even if you use the Reverend's shuttle," Siegal Clyne said as he approached the group, "Flights to Earth just aren't being allowed."

_BEEP BEEP_

"There's a call coming in from Ms. Eileen Canaver and Mr. Ian Kessel," a voice said over the intercom.

The faces of a man and woman appeared on the screens within the glass. "Siegal, Zala has deceived us all," Kessel said. "Spitbreak's target wasn't Panama. It's JOSH-A."

"What?!"

At that instant, Kira's eyes widened in shock as his cup fell from his hand and shattered. The Archangel was at JOSH-A. All of his friends were in danger.

"Kira!" Lacus said as she reached out to him.

"He's trying to take out the Alliance Command in one fell swoop," Ian informed.

"The Council is in an uproar. We've never approved anything like this," Eileen added. "He's overstepped his authority."

"What do you expect from a man like Zala? I told you all that a man like him shouldn't be in charge."

Kira didn't need to pay attention to the rest of the message. His friends were at Alaska and he needed to get back there before it was too late.

* * *

Submarine Pen

JOSH-A

"Just line up here. You'll have to show them your papers when you board," Mu said handing Flay her papers. "Got it?"

"Yes," Flay said.

"Good," Mu said walking away from the group.

"Wait. Where are you going?" she asked. She didn't want to get separated from familiar people.

"I forgot something." Mu casually replied as left.

* * *

The drop pods tethered to the dropships were deployed falling through the atmosphere towards JOSH-A. While ZnOs and GOOhNs were launched from underwater sub carriers and heading for the base. Early warning alarms went off in the abandoned control room of the JOSH-A base. A moment later, the alarms went off through out the base, alerting the garrison there as well as the Archangel. The manned and automated defenses of JOSH-A activated preparing for the incoming attackers.

The battle of JOSH-A had begun.

* * *

The Archangel

Murrue and the bridge crew were all stunned when they heard the alarms go off. Suddenly, Captain Sutherland appeared on the main screen.

"Captain Sutherland! What's going on?!" Murrue asked.

"They tricked us!" a stunned Sutherland replied. "At the last minute, they switched their target to JOSH-A. All Defense Forces are to launch immediately. Commence interception."

* * *

"Damn." John said as he, Chirs and Liz rushed into the hanger. "Who would have thought that they would have taken the gamble to attack JOSH-A."

"This seems to happen just about every time we get a break," Chris said as put his helmet on. "This ship must be cursed or something."

"Well, it's not the most conspicuous of ships," John replied, heading for his mobile suit. "And I think its reputation has made it a major target for ZAFT. Anyone wanting to make a name for themselves will be gunning for us out there. So be careful"

Chris headed for the Raven while his sister headed towards the Buster and the Surge.

"Hey! What's the status on the Buster and the Surge?!" Liz called out.

"We've got them both up and running!" Murdoch called back.

"Then get the Buster ready for launch! I'm using it!"

"You heard her, guys! Get the Buster ready for launch!" Murdoch called out the crews.

"And keep the Surge on standby, just in case!" John said as climbed in the Farsight's cockpit.

"I'm surprised that you aren't going to use it," Chris said as the Raven was loaded onto one of the catapults.

"The Farsight has been a good companion. I won't abandon him for another mobile suit," John replied.

"You know, I actually feel the same way about the Raven. I don't think I could ever use another mobile suit."

The first catapult opened up. "Chris Dante. Raven Gundam launching!"

The catapult activated propelling the Raven forward. Once it cleared the catapult, the Raven transformed into a Mobile Armor. The Buster was loaded onto the second catapult. "Liz Dante. Buster Gundam launching!"

The Buster was launched from the Archangel. "Finally! I get to pilot one of these machines!" Liz said with a grin as she cleared the ship.

"This isn't a game." Chris said.

"I know. But I've wanted to pilot a mobile suit for long time now."

Chris shook his head. "Just get on."

"Right," Liz said as she landed on the Raven.

The Farsight launched and landed on the Archangel's hull. "This is going to be a tough one," John said.

"Stick close to the Archangel. And pray that we can hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

Rau Le Creuset glanced at his watch. It was almost time for them to launch. So far, the Operation had gone off without a hitch. Save one. The 11th Fleet had been delayed and wouldn't be arriving in time. Technically, it wasn't a danger to what was going to happen, but the Cyclops System could have removed a potential threat to his plans saving the trouble of dealing with them himself. "No matter. I'll have to deal them later," Rau said to himself.

"Zane, Yzak," he said over the radio.

"Sir!" the teens said.

"I'll be scouting out their inner defenses. I trust that you'll both be able to proceed as planned."

"Yes sir," the two replied.

"Good. It's time to launch."

The three vertical catapults opened. Rau's silver DINN launched followed by the Duel and the red GINN and their Guuls. DINNs and GINNs were soon launched afterwards.

"The curtain has risen," Rau said to himself. "And now it's time for the actors to show their talent."

* * *

Submarine Pen

Flay was waiting in line to board the sub when the alarms went off. They were under attack! Flay knew the sensible thing to do was to wait and board the sub. There wasn't anything else she could do. But... She was worried about Chris and everyone else on the Archangel.

So she did the only thing that made sense to her. She ran out of the sub pen and headed to where she had last seen Archangel.

* * *

Aprilius City

Lacus lead Kira through the corridors of a ZAFT installation. Kira wasn't exactly sure why they were here, but he figured that they were going to find a means to get him back down to Earth in time to save his friends on the Archangel. They approached a large pair of doors. In front of the doors were a pair of ZAFT technicians and that man in the purple ZAFT uniform that had called Siegal Clyne, Ian Kessel, if he remembered correctly.

"Hello, Mr. Kessel," Lacus said with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Clyne. And you were the pilot of the Strike, correct?" Mr. Kessel said.

"Yes."

"Before we go in, could you tell me what happened to the Surge and it's pilot?"

"No. I'm sorry, I can't," Kira replied.

"I see." For the briefest of instances, the man seemed older and worn out like how he had acted before then had mostly been a mask.

But that moment passed and the man's appearance returned to what it was before. "Well then, let us give you your new sword."

The doors opened and Lacus entered the dark hanger with Kira close behind. It was pitch black inside. All Kira could see was Lacus and part of the catwalk they were floating over. Suddenly, the lights in the hanger came on. Standing before the teens was a...

"A Gundam!" Kira said as he stared at the mobile suit in awe.

"Actually, that's not what it's called. This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom," Lacus stated. "But you know, Gundam is better because it sounds more powerful."

"Under orders from Chairman Zala, they designed a new mobile suit using the technology of the captured Earth Forces machines and then added state of the art technology," Lacus continued.

"But why are you giving me this?" Kira asked.

"I feel that this machine is going to have the power that you're going to need," she replied. "Neither will alone nor strength alone will be enough. That is why. Will this take to where you want to go? Will it help you when you get there?"

"Neither will alone nor strength alone." Kira said, echoing her words.

He turned to her. "Who are you, really?"

"I am simply Lacus Clyne," the pink haired songstress told him, "and you are Kira Yamato."

"I'm grateful for you help." Kira said with a smile.

Kessel entered the hanger. "We've knocked out the cameras," he informed them as he approached the two, a red ZAFT flight suit and helmet in his hands.

"So what do you think of the Freedom?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know what to think." Kira answered.

"You must make sure that this machine doesn't get into the hands of the wrong people."

"Huh?"

It's equipped with a nuclear reactor and an N-Jammer Canceler. I don't think I need to tell you what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands," the man said.

"I understand. But why are you trusting this with me?"

"For most of us, it's because you have the trust of Miss Clyne. For myself and others, this is an act of defiance against Patrick Zala and those that follow him. We wish for the war to end peacefully. Not with one side wiping the other out, which is where Patrick Zala's beliefs will lead ZAFT if nothing is done," Ian said. "You'll be going back to Earth and the war, while we will remain here and fight to bring peace in our own way."

"How?"

"Because of Miss Clyne's popularity, she's one of the most influential people in the PLANTs. And my family has strong ties with many leaders in the military," Ian said. "We'll be fine. Here, you better get suited up."

He handed Kira the flightsuit as Lacus turned away. A few minutes later, he was wearing the flightsuit and heading for the cockpit. "Are you sure about this?" Kira asked.

"Yes. I too will be singing the great song of peace," Lacus said, floating next to him.

"Be careful."

"I will. You take care too, Kira" Lacus said.

"My strength goes with you," she added kissing him on the cheek causing both of them to slightly blush.

"And now you should be on your way," Lacus said pushing off the Freedom and headed for the catwalk.

Kira climbed into the cockpit as Lacus and Ian left the hanger.

"Neither will alone nor strength alone," Kira said to himself as he powered up the Freedom.

The Freedom took off flying out of the hanger alerting ZAFT security in the process. The officers in the Dock Control Room frantically tried to stop the Freedom from escaping, but it was too late. Kira had already cleared the hanger and PLANT itself. But they weren't the only ones to try to stop Kira. A pair of GINNs on patrol moved into Kira's path and fired at him. Kira effortlessly dodged their fire and, in a blur of speed, sliced off the GINNs' heads with the Freedom's beam sabers. With the threat neutralized, Kira sped off towards Earth passing a shuttle heading for the PLANTs.

Athrun sat quietly in his seat on board the shuttle. There was barely anyone on the shuttle and those that were on board were mostly soldiers that had been too badly hurt to continue fighting in the war like the man a few rows ahead of him. The brown haired man had lost his left eye and his left arm and was forced to walk with a cane. Clearly, his days of fighting were over. He glanced out his window just in time to see a mobile suit he had never seen before fly passed the shuttle with tremendous speed heading for Earth. It looked similar to the machines built on Heliopolis, but unlike any of those mobile suits.

Neither Kira nor Athrun realized they had just encountered each other again.

* * *

That's all for now. You know the drill. Review!!


	21. Phase Twenty: Descending Sword

Yo everybody. I had hoped to get this up sooner, but I was delayed with other stuff. Fortunately, I was able to finish the bulk of it last night and this morning.

**Phase Twenty: Descending Sword**

A silver DINN slipped passed the raging battle unnoticed. It flew along the edge of the battlefield skimming passed missile and anti-air batteries until it reached its target: a small, unassuming waterfall guarded by a pair of missile batteries. The missile batteries opened fire but the DINN evaded the barrage of missiles and flew passed the batteries, through the waterfall and into the tunnel the waterfall hid.

"It seems Azrael's information was correct," Rau said as his DINN dashed through the tunnel heading for the base interior.

* * *

ZAFT mobile suits filled the air as they headed for their objective: JOSH-A's Main Naval Gate. Unfortunately, when they reached the area, they were surprised by what they saw.

"Hey! Is that the legged ship?" a GINN pilot asked.

"I think it is," a DINN pilot responded. "Ya think if we take it down they'll give us medals like Zala's kid?"

"Hell yeah!" a second DINN pilot shouted. "A round of medals for everyone!"

"Cut the chatter," the team leader ordered from the cockpit of his CGUE. "We have a-"

However, before the pilot had a chance to finish whatever he had to say, a beam shot from above, tore through the CGUE, destroying it. The rest of the ZAFT team looked up. The Buster, riding atop the Raven, descended in on them firing its beam cannon and gun launcher as the Raven fired it's shoulder machine guns and railgun at them. The beams struck a GINN and the left wing of DINN while the solid rounds tore though a pair of other GINNs.

"Shit! Scatter!" a DINN pilot yelled out.

The ZAFT mobile suits spread out to avoid the incoming fire and returned fire themselves. The Raven swerved dodging most of their missiles and bullets. Those that were able to hit did little against the phase shift armor of the two Gundams. A GINN pilot swore through his clenched teeth. "They're just as strong as the reports say they are, but they can only handle so much! Keep-"

A single bullet struck the GINN and a second later and it exploded. "Sniper!" another pilot shouted.

John fired off more rounds. A round tore through a DINN's head. A GINN's Guul exploded. Another round tore through a GINN's torso. The fourth round hit the center of a GINN's back. John ejected the spent clip and loaded a new one. The Buster fired its cannons and missiles while the Raven's guns roared sending more mobile suits to the waters below.

From underwater, ZnOs and GOOhNs fired their torpedoes at the various naval vessels defending the base. Unlike the GINNs and the DINNs that were trying to deal with the Buster and the Raven, there was nothing to stop them from attacking the ships directly. The torpedoes hit their targets sinking several Arkansas, Des Moines and Fraser class ships. "Damn," John cursed saw one of the ships sink. "Murdoch, get that bazooka and my one remaining sword ready for me. I'm going under to deal with those underwater mobile suits."

"Right."

The Farsight returned to the hanger and a few minutes later it emerged armed with a bazooka and a sword stored on the back of its waist. The modified GINN leaped off the edge of the catapult and into the depths below.

"What the? A GINN High Maneuver Type?" a GOOhN pilot said at the sight of the Farsight. "Is it with the 11th Fleet?"

"Pilot. Identify yourself," the ZnO commander ordered.

"Victor Cain. Officer of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet. Serial number ZM-211787," John instantly replied. "My thrusters have failed and I need a hand at getting back to the surface."

"Alright then," the commander responded, not noticing a rocket launcher being aimed at his suit.

"Jenkins, help get him to the sur-"

A rocket stuck the ZnO silencing the commander. Two more rockets destroyed a pair of GOOhNs before anyone could react. "Shit! Attack!" a GOOhN pilot shouted.

Two GOOhNs charged the Farsight intending to ram it but John was much faster. He fired the bazooka at one GOOhN, easily defeating it, as he reached for his sword with his other hand and stabbed the second GOOhN. A moment later, it exploded.

"Who's next?" John said as more GOOhNs and ZnOs approached.

* * *

Elsewhere, the battle for JOSH-A was going poorly for the Earth Forces. ZuOOTs and BuCUEs were overrunning the Earth Forces' tanks and gun batteries due in part to the air support provided by the GINNs and DINNs flying overhead.

Saya fired off a burst of rounds from her rifle at a linear tank, destroying it. Nearby, Yzak destroyed a pair of tanks with the Duel's rifle. "These targets aren't any challenge at all," Yzak complained as he aimed at a gun emplacement.

"I find myself agreeing with you," Zane agreed as he fired at a gun battery. "After fighting the legged ship for so long, fighting against such weak opponents feels dull and boring."

"But Sirs. We're fighting in an important operation that could end the war," Saya said. "How can you consider this dull and boring?"

"It's not the mission that's dull. It's the opponents," Yzak said shooting down several missiles streaking towards his direction. "When you've been fighting against strong opponents for as long as we have, Rookie, you find weaker opponents boring. These guys may be fine for newbies like you, but experienced soldiers will find these guys boring to fight."

"Newbie?! I'm not a newbie!" Saya shouted, insulted. She wasn't a Red Coat for nothing. '_How dare he say I'm a newbie!'_ She thought, fuming, as she rushed ahead of the group eager to prove herself. _'__I'll show him who's a newbie!'_

"Wait!" Yzak shouted. "Running ahead like that-"

"Let her go," Zane interrupted. "She's a Red Coat like us. Unless the Academy has lowered their standards, she's more than capable of handling whatever they throw at her. She'd be more of a burden if she wasn't."

* * *

The Archangel

"Dammit!" Dearka cursed as the ship shuddered from a few hits of missiles. He was holding onto the prison bars that kept him. The battleship was going through a barrage of fire, but it would take a lot more than that to bring it down. Though this didn't help Dearka's mood as he was once again shook off balance. "What the hell's going on out there?!"

"Isn't it obvious? JOSH-A's under attack," Saul said lazily as he held onto his bed.

"Wait a minute!" Dearka exclaimed, clearly shocked. "Why is JOSH-A under attack?! I thought we were going attack Panama!"

"Apparently, everyone thought that, too," Nicol responded also holding onto his bed. He was sweating out of nervousness. "But it looks like Alaska was the real target."

The Archangel shook as it was hit again. Dearka, who had been standing in his cell, lost his balance and banged his head against one of the bars and fell over on his bottom. "Ow! Dammit!"

"You okay, Dearka?" a concerned Nicol asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he responded, rubbing his forehead. "Just a bruise."

"Could be worse," Saul said. "If this ship goes down, we go down with it."

* * *

Inside JOSH-A

Mu ran through the corridors of the base trying to find the Archangel and any information regarding what was currently happening. It was at that moment that he felt it: a strange pressure-like feeling, the same spine tingling sensation he got whenever Rau Le Creuset was nearby. He reached the door to the command center and peered inside.

The room was empty, save for a ZAFT White Coat by the name of Rau Le Creuset. Who stood over the console doing god knows what. Rau spun around and fired. Mu pulled his head back in time barely dodging the bullets. Rau took off heading for a side door. Mu entered the room and fired at Rau. Rau reached the doorway and used the door frame for cover while Mu moved behind a console to use as cover as well.

"It's been awhile, Mu La Flaga," Rau greeted, though his tone was far from welcoming. "I don't have time to be fooling around. Though we've only just met again, I apologize for leaving so soon. But if you're still hanging around here, then your usefulness to the Earth Forces' is almost at an end. Oh Hawk of Endymion, how the mighty have fallen!"

Rau laughed and fired a few more rounds before taking off. Mu considered following him, but he needed to know why Rau was here. He turned to the computer Rau had been looking at. What he saw turned his blood cold, something he thought he'd never see again. "No..." he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "They wouldn't...."

* * *

Flay ran through the corridors of the base wishing for the hundredth time that she had paid better attention to the route they took from the Archangel. She was hopelessly lost in the massive base. It was like a maze, and she wondered why it was built this way briefly. She reached an intersection when an Earth Alliance soldier appeared from another hallway. "A ZAFT soldier!" he shouted, staring down a different hallway as he drew his sidearm.

_BANG!_

The soldier fell to his side bumping Flay in the process. Flay stumbled, shrieking as she fell into the intersection. She lanced up from the direction the shot came from and she noticed one thing and it frightened her. Standing there was an armed masked man wearing a white ZAFT uniform. She silently hoped someone, anyone, was still around to come to her rescue but it looked pretty obvious that no one will be helping her. She looked for the next best thing: something to defend herself with. She noticed it and reached for the fallen soldiers gun and pointed it at the man, her hands shaking as she held the weapon.

"What have we here?" the man said, more intrigued than anything. He knew soldiers when he saw one, but this girl in front of him was acting far from one. Was it the feeling of her intense fear radiating off of her face? Or was it something else?

Flay's eyes widened in shock. That voice. It sounded just like her father's, but that was impossible. He was dead. She saw the ship he was on explode before her eyes! And this man didn't even look remotely like her father at all. "That... that voice. Why...why do you sound like my daddy?"

The man didn't react, or if he did, she didn't see it. Instead, he rushed towards her. His speed and reflexes were far greater than the girl's own. The shock from his fist forced her to fire a single shot before she was overcome by darkness and fainted into the man's arm.

* * *

Mu rushed towards the nearest hanger. He had to warn everyone on the Archangel before it was too late. He finally reached a hanger but it was a mess. Debris littered the hanger floor and much of the hanger crew were trying to put out a fire that erupted at another end of the large space. There were a few Spearhead fighters sitting in the hanger that looked flyable. He needed one of those fighters. While he was back in the command room, he learned that the Archangel had been participating in the battle just outside the base.

"What?! They've been completely wiped out! That's impossible!" a Eurasian soldier manning the hanger's comm console said.

Mu ran to that man. "Who's in charge here?"

The soldier turned to him. "Ah... At the moment sir, you're the only ranking officer here."

"Then get out of here now! The base is being abandoned!" Mu urgently informed. "Get everyone here at least ten kilometers from the base as quickly as you can!"

This didn't make any bit of sense to the soldier one bit. "Ten kilometers? I don't understand sir."

"Just get out of here NOW!!"

The soldier nodded. "Ah...Yes sir."

Not bothering to watch him gather the hanger crew and flee, Mu rushed to the nearest fighter grabbing a discarded helmet along the way. He climbed into the cockpit and started the fighter up. A moment later, he took off, heading for the Archangel's last known coordinates.

* * *

Outside JOSH-A's Main Gate

The Farsight reached the surface of the water near the Archangel. "Archangel, I've taken care of the underwater units for now, but more will come," John explained. "I'm returning for resupply."

"Roger," Miriallia responded. "Chris and Liz are also heading back for resupply as well."

"I have no ammo left in the bazooka," John informed as the Farsight rose out of the water's surface. "I'll get my rifle and cover the ship while they get resupplied."

The Farsight landed on the port mobile suit catapult and entered the hanger. He retrieved his sniper rifle and loaded some clips onto the Farsight's ammo racks. As he turned towards one of the catapults, the catapult door exploded from a barrage of missiles. John swore, "If we don't get any reinforcements soon, there won't be anyone left to save when they do get here."

* * *

Mu piloted his fighter over the battlefield, trying to avoid getting into a fight with ZAFT as he headed for the main naval gate where the Archangel should be. Hopefully.

A GINN fired at him. Mu evaded the incoming bullets and fired off a missile hitting the GINN's mono-eyed main camera. Mu quickly flew past it before it could recover. He had to find the Archangel. He didn't have time to waste on fighting.

A few minutes later, Mu spotted the main gate, and the Archangel in the heart of the battle it played out on. "There she is!"

The Archangel had taken a beating. There was a gaping hole one of the catapults and the other was open. Allowing the Raven and the Buster to land. Standing on top of the ship was the Farsight destroying mobile suits with single, well aimed shots from his rifle.

Mu headed for the Archangel. He opened up a comm line trying to warn Murrue and the others, but a GINN spotted him and fired. Mu spotted it at last second and tried to evade the GINN's fire, but he wasn't quick enough. A round struck his fighter and he was quickly loosing altitude. It was lucky that the shot didn't cause his fighter to explode. "Dammit!" Mu swore as he struggled to keep the fighter stable. "Archangel! Archangel, come in! This is La Flaga! Archangel come in!"

There was no response, however. Either his radio was damaged or their's was. "I guess I've got no choice. Clear the way cause I'm coming through!"

Mu aimed his fighter for the gaping hole in the catapult door. The fighter barely crashed into the deck, skidding across the catapult and crashing into the hastily erected crash net. Mu quickly jumped out of the cockpit and ran towards the bridge, ignoring Murdoch and the others' surprised shocks at his arrival.

"What's he doing here?" Liz asked. "I though he was transferred off the ship."

"Apparently it didn't stick." Chris said.

* * *

The Bridge

"Captain!" Mu shouted as he entered the bridge out of breath from his run.

The captain glanced around quickly recognizing who had addressed her."What the hell are you doing here?!" a very surprised Murrue asked. Wasn't he supposed to be transferred?

Mu ignored her question. "No time...We have to get out of here right now!"

Marrue was confused. "What?"

"There's a large Cyclops System under the base! It's powerful enough to turn everything within ten kilometers of the base into a blast furnace!" Mu said shocking the entire bridge crew. "There aren't enough forces here to defend the base long enough for reinforcements to arrive! Soon, the defenders will be overrun and ZAFT will reach the base interior! That's when they'll activate the System and destroy the base! And in the process, take out more than half of fighting strength! That's the outcome of this battle as imagined by the top brass!!"

"It can't be!!" Murrue said, trying to convince herself that he was wrong.

"I swear to you. I saw it with my own eyes. The command center is abandoned. The only ones that are left, are the Eurasian forces and the Archangel because those bigwigs have given up on her!"

"So they left us here to die?" Arnold asked.

"Only after we give them a desperate struggle so the enemy doesn't know it's abandoned."

"Wha...What kind of strategy this?" a terrified Kuzzey said.

"Because this is a war." Mir said, her eyes watering. "And because we're all suppose to be good soldiers. If they tell us too, I guess we're suppose to throw away our lives." The moment she hear Mu speak about the Cyclops System, all her confidence and her beliefs shattered. The memories that kept her up in the passed few nights, images and nightmares of Kira and Tolle dying all because of the war, resurfaced as she began to break down.

Murrue scowled. They, and everyone else in JOSH-A, had been left to die by their own commanders. The bridge was silent save for the distress calls from various forces fighting in JOSH-A.

"This is the Grant! The Northern Naval Gate is lost! I repeat, ZAFT has breached the North Gate!"

"...We're being overrun! There's too many of them! We need assistance!"

"The entire Sixth Air Defense Force has been wiped out! Command! We need reinforcements! Command?! Come in Command!!"

"This is the 14th Armored Battalion! We need reinforcements! We need rein...AAAAGH-"

Marrue came to her decision. "If the whole objective of this battle was to lure the ZAFT forces closer in, then in my opinion, this ship has already completed its objective." And to ensure the safety of her own crew, she added, "Note that I, Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel, make this decision alone. No other member of the crew is to be held responsible."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself Captain," Mu said.

Murrue ignored him and stood up. "This ship will now abandon the battle area and make its withdrawal. Inform Mr. Alaric and the others of what's happened and then signal the other ships to follow us. Engines to maximum. Head to port. We'll make our escape there!"

"This won't be an easy battle for us," Mu said as Murrue sat back down. "I'm launching as well."

"But Commander-"

"Don't worry. Remember, I'm the guy who makes the impossible, possible."

* * *

Zane smirked as he launched from the Cousteau. They had returned to resupply their mobile suits when Creuset had returned. Yzak and the others had been eager to join the others heading into base interior but Creuset had ordered them to attack the main gate. The legged ship was there and as a result, it was still standing. They'd be far enough from the base interior to allow them to escape before the Cyclops System could reach them.

It was time to end that troublesome ship once and for all. And if they couldn't destroy it, then the Cyclops would.

"Alright! We're gonna get a piece of the legged ship!" Saya said as her DINN joined the launching mobile suits from the Cousteau.

"Calm down Rookie." Yzak said in an annoyed tone. "That cocky attitude will get you killed. Especially against that ship. So tone it down. I've lost enough teammates against that accursed ship and it's mobile suits."

"Indeed. If we can take that ship out, it will cement our victory here." Zane added.

Yzak nodded. "Alright. Listen up everybody, we're going after the legged ship. And we're gonna destroy that ship once and for all!"

* * *

"This is insane," Liz said as she fired at more ZAFT mobile suits. They had received information about the Cyclops System only minutes ago. "Who in their right mind would sacrifice their soldiers like this?!"

"This is about as mess up as it gets," Chris said, angry at their betrayal. "It was probably that bastard Sutherland and those like him that did this."

"Now is not the time for this," John said. "We can worry about that after we've escaped."

"Heads up!" Mu said from the cockpit of his Sky Grasper. "We've got company!"

A group of ZAFT mobile suits appeared, heading for them, the Duel and a red GINN in leading in the front.

"Liz. Get off." Chris said lowly.

Did she just hear right? "What?"

"Get off and steal a Guul. The red GINN is mine alone."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The Buster jumped off of the Raven and fired at a GINN hitting the machine and sending it flying off the Guul. The Buster landed on the Guul and moved to the Raven's side.

Yzak swore at the sight of the Buster alongside Raven. "Bastard! Using Dearka's machine! You'll pay for that!" How dare they use his best friend's machine!

Zane chuckled. "It seems that you survived the Aegis' self-destruct, but you won't survive after I'm through with you!"

The Duel and the red GINN flew ahead of the group heading for the Buster and Raven. Yzak roared as he charged at that mobile suit that had once been Dearka's with a beam saber drawn. Liz flew backwards firing at the Duel while trying to prevent him from closing the distance between the two, but Yzak was an ace pilot while this was Liz's first time in a mobile suit. Yzak sidestepped the beams as he drew closer and closer to the Buster. Suddenly, a large beam tore through the air right in front the Duel stopping it in it's tracks.

Mu fired the Agni cannon mounted on his Sky Grasper again at the Duel. "Two against one?! Fine, have it your way! I'll take you both on!" Yzak shouted as he dodged the beam.

Elsewhere, Zane fired his railgun at the incoming Raven. Chris responded by firing back with his own railgun. "This time, I will defeat you," Zane said. "One way or another, you're going down today!"

"Dammit! Now is not the time for this, Zane! There's a Cyclops System under the base!" Chris said desperate to stop the fight so they could escape the base. "We have to get out of here before it's too late!"

Zane chuckled. "I already know that."

"What?! Then why are still here?!"

"As I said, I am here to defeat you."

Chris scowled. There was only one option at this point. "I have no other choice then. If you won't get out of the way, I will make you get out of the way."

The GINN's Guul fired off a barrage of missiles. Chris fired off the Raven's guns, destroying the missiles and then fired his railguns at the GINN. It quickly rose up dodging the shots. Zane drew sword and threw it like the spear at the Raven. The Raven made a hard right narrowly dodging the makeshift spear.

On top of the Archangel, John fired the last rounds from his rifle. The two DINNs exploded. "You're not sinking this ship." he said as he discarded the spent clip.

At that moment, a trio of DINNs fired off a barrage of missiles. They streaked towards the top of the Archangel's hull and the Farsight. John swore he jumped trying to avoid the incoming missiles but several missiles hit the Farsight. The badly damaged Farsight crashed onto the hull. It's right shin, entire left leg and right bicep were destroyed. "Gah! Dammit!" John cursed through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, a Guul mounted GINN swooped down in front of the bridge of the warship, its rifle aimed at its crew. Murrue and the bridge crew all stared down the barrel of the rifle in horror as Kuzzey screamed and made a futile dive for cover. "No!" John screamed from the cockpit of his crippled machine. He was unable to help them.

Mu, Chris and Liz turned from their own battles to see the GINN. They aimed for the GINN but couldn't fire. If they did, they'd hit the GINN and the Archangel's bridge. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the GINN pilot started to squeezed the trigger. It was too late. They had lost their comrades!

As if on cue, a green beam shot from above tore through the rifle effectively destroying the weapon without hitting anything else. Everyone in the area looked up trying to find the source of the shot. Descending on the GINN and the Archangel was white mobile suit none of them had ever seen before. The mobile suit drew a beam saber and sliced the GINN's head off. The GINN backed off as the newcomer took a position in front of the Archangel's bridge with its majestic blue wings outstretched shielding it from any further harm.

"This is Kira Yamato. Please get to safety. I'll cover you."

The GINNs and the DINNs resumed their attacks on the Archangel and the other defenders. A seed shattered in the back of Kira's mind. The winged mobile suit locked on to every nearby ZAFT mobile suit as the Freedom's railguns unfolded and plasma beam cannons flipped over its shoulders. Kira fired off a massive barrage of perfectly aimed beam shots. The heads, limbs and weapons of ZAFT mobile suits exploded, including the crimson GINN's head. Stunned pilots of both damaged and undamaged mobile suits backed away from the Freedom and the Archangel, unsure of what to do against the power the Freedom displayed.

Out of all the pilots within this battle, only one of them wasn't afraid of the newcomer. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but you're going down!" Yzak shouted firing at the Freedom.

The Freedom raised it's shield blocking the Duel's beams. For a moment, Yzak noticed the Freedom stall and used it as an opportunity to get closer. The Duel drew its saber and lunged at the Freedom. Kira countered by drawing one of his own sabers and the two warriors clashed blades. Yzak aimed the Duel's railgun at the Freedom's head and fired, but Kira was faster and pulled the Freedom's head out of the line of fire. Before Yzak could get his guard back up, Kira swung his saber low. Yzak watched in horror as the saber came towards the cockpit. Suddenly, Kira lowered the saber slashing through the Duel's knees instead. Kira kicked the Duel sending it to the waters.

"I got you sir," Saya said as her DINN swooped down and grabbed the Duel. "Are you alright sir?"

Yzak ignored her, his thoughts on what just happened. "He didn't...But why..." Normally, when you have the opportunity to kill your opponent, you'd take the chance, but the pilot of the winged mobile suit clearly did not intend to end his life. It contradicted the whole point of this war.

"Don't worry sir, we're heading back." Saya said, heading for the Cousteau.

Chris started to laugh as both the Raven and the Buster landed on the Archangel. He knew he shouldn't do so in the middle of a battle, especially if at any minute they could all be annihilated by the Cyclops System, but he couldn't help it. Kira was alive after all! "Damn, good to see you Kira!" he cheered. "And the next time you scare us like that, you better be dead!"

"Wow! That was amazing! Where'd you get a suit like that?" Liz said in awe.

"While I admit that this is a happy little reunion, we do have more pressing matters to attend to," John said. "We have to get out of here. Now!"

"He's right. Miss Murrue, please get the Archangel out of here. I'll deal with them," Kira said.

"You don't understand, Kira. Under headquarters, there's a...a Cyclops System!" Murrue said.

Kira's face paled in horror. He had heard of the Earth Forces' defeat at Endymion Crater before and how they used a Cyclops System to wipe out the invading ZAFT forces. If something like that was here too, then it was more than just escaping a simple battle. More is at stake here than anyone realized.

"We're all just bait! We had no idea what they were planning this!"

Kira turned back out the battle. After his encounter with Lacus Clyne in the PLANTs, he knew exactly what he needed to do. What he was fighting for he now knew what he had to do. He had to end this war without a single person's life lost in the process. And that meant everyone, including the Earth Forces and ZAFT forces. He was determined to end this war once and for all, and if he had to become the enemy to ensure Naturals and Coordinators would no longer quarrel, then so be it.

"Attention, all ZAFT and Earth Alliance Forces! At any moment now, the Cyclops System under the Alaska Base will activate and the base will self-destruct! Please, cease fighting and withdraw from the area immediately!"

More confusion spread across the ranks of the soldiers fighting and their commanders. Was this kid bluffing to try to get the ZAFT forces to flee? Or was he speaking the truth and they were moments away from being annihilated? A few ZAFT soldiers decided that it was better to be safe than sorry claiming that they needed to resupply. Many, still confused over everything that happened in the last few minutes, didn't do anything. The rest simply ignored him and resumed attacking the base and its defenders.

* * *

Aboard the Earth Forces' Submarine, the Pisces

Captain Sutherland sat in seat at the table waiting along with the rest of the officers from JOSH-A. It was almost time. They had just received word that ZAFT had breached the interior of the base and would soon overrun it. Sutherland had personally told the doomed fools that reinforcements would be there in less then twenty minutes. All they had to do was hold out until then. The door to the briefing room opened, Admiral Jamitov Hymen entered the room. All of the officers in the room saluted the Admiral. "Sir. ZAFT has breached the base interior," Sutherland informed. "It's time."

Jamitov nodded. He silently took his seat next to Sutherland. Before both of them was a pair of metal boxes attached to cables with a keyhole in the center. Both men pulled out their keys and inserted them into the keyholes.

"It is my sincerest wish that this terrible sacrifice will bring a swift end to the war," a solemn and weary Jamitov said.

"For the preservation of our blue and pure world," Sutherland added. "3...2...1."

Both men simultaneously turned the keys... and unleashed hell upon those at JOSH-A.

* * *

Underneath JOSH-A, the massive Cyclops System array came to life. The first to feel its effects where the Eurasian soldiers in the interior of JOSH-A and the ZAFT forces that had penetrated the interior. Unlike a normal self-destruct that would have engulfed the base in a massive explosion, the microwave weapon rapidly heated up the munitions and propellant of weapons used by both forces causing them to explode. It had the same effect on human bodies. Water in the human body would quickly heat up. The people affected inflated like balloons. Mercifully, this agonizing process only lasted a few seconds before they too exploded from the inside out.

They were the first victims of the Cyclops System but they wouldn't be the last. The System wouldn't stop until it reached the critical point and the base as well as the array itself were destroyed by the intense heat.

* * *

"Oh no!" Sai said. "They've activated the Cyclops!"

"Engines to maximum!! Get us out of here!!" Murrue shouted at the top of lungs.

Arnold didn't need to be told. As soon as Sai informed them that the Cyclops System had been activated, he had gunned the engines. The Archangel pushed forward as fast as it's engines could push itself. ZAFT mobile suits desperately fled the area. Many escaped. Many did not. The surviving Earth Forces' naval ships tried to flee as well but they were too slow and joined the growing number of causalities. The Guul of a headless GINN near the Archangel exploded. The pilot screamed as shrapnel hit the GINN and he began to fall.

"I got you," Kira said grabbing the GINN's arm and carried it and its pilot to safety.

By some miracle, the Archangel barely managed to reach a safe distance before the entire base exploded like a massive inferno.

* * *

The DINN carrying the Duel had made it half way to the Cousteau when the base exploded. The DINN turned back watching the massive fireball consume the base.

"How... How they do that?" Saya said completely shocked by what had happened. "They wiped out their own men as well as ours."

Yzak didn't respond. This whole thing had left a bad taste in his mouth. A Natural piloting Dearka's machine. The new mobile suit that defeated him with ease. And now this.

Zane's headless GINN suddenly appeared alongside the DINN and the crippled Duel. "It's simple. While technologically, the Naturals are inferior to us, they drastically outnumber us." Zane said, venom in his voice. "They figured that one day, we'd likely attack their central command and as a result, planted a Cyclops System under the base. So if and when we'd attack, they had it lying in wait for us."

"But they sacrificed so many of their own soldiers!" Saya said.

"You forget. They outnumber us. The losses they suffered here is nothing compared to the losses we suffered. And because they thought we were going to hit Panama, most of their forces had been sent there. Meaning our own deception ensured that they would suffer fewer causalities." Zane said. "A truly disgusting tactic."

_'Damn that machine! I would have defeated him if he hadn't interfered.' _Zane thought as they flew back to the Cousteau.

* * *

"It can't be!" the Cousteau's Captain said in horror.

The entire bridge crew of the Cousteau, had similar looks of horror on their faces. They couldn't believe that the Earth Forces would do such a thing at their own headquarters. "It seems that we've fallen for the Earth Forces' trap," Rau said with a smirk that went unnoticed by all around him.

* * *

Aboard the Odin

"I see... So the Commander was going to meet up with the Eighth Fleet when Victoria was taken stranding him in Africa," Diana said.

"Indeed. But that's not all of it," Captain Burton of the Junk Guild replied. "We recently received word from some of our comrades on Earth that the new Earth Forces warship landed in Africa and defeated the Desert Tiger with the help of a band of rebels and a mercenary. A mercenary that Waltfeld himself identified as Commander Alaric and passed it on to the Junk Guild members that helped save his life. And there's been reports of a GINN High Maneuver Type fighting alongside that new warship since they left Africa."

"So he's fighting alongside them for now."

Burton nodded. "It appears that way. Oh... Before I forget, the last time he recorded a message for you," he said, pulling out a disc. "This is a copy of it."

Diana took the disc. "Thank you. Your people have been a tremendous help to us-"

Suddenly, a voice blared over the ship's intercom. "Commander Kessel! Please report to the bridge at once! I repeat..."

Diana stood up. "It seems something has happen. If you excuse me."

"I understand. I'll be heading back to my ship and oversee the supply transfer."

The two left Diana's office and went their separate ways. Captain Burton heading for the hanger while Diana headed for bridge. A few minutes later, Diana stepped onto the bridge. The bridge was buzzing with activity. Lucius and Lee turned to her as she enter. "What has happened?"

"Spitbreak failed," Lucius bluntly told her. "The Alliance used a Cyclops to destroy the base and our forces. Early estimates put the causalities as low as seventy percent and as high as ninety percent."

Diana swore as she took her chair. Another Cyclops was just used! "Contact Admiral Darlian immediately! I want a full status report on our holdings on Earth! If the Alliance is preparing a counterattack, I want to know where! And I want the supplies from Burton's ship aboard the Fleet now!" she ordered, her voice as cold as ice.

The Odin's bridge crew snapped into action, rushing to carry out her orders. A few minutes later, Admiral Darlian's face appeared on the main screen. "What Kessel?!" he said, his tone angry.

"Are the reports true? Did they use a Cyclops at JOSH-A?" Diana asked revealing no emotion.

"Yes," Darlian grunted. "They wiped our forces out."

"What's the status on our remaining forces from the attack?"

"What?"

"Don't tell me they're just sitting on the waters outside Alaska. If they haven't already started to, tell them to regroup at Carpentaria."

"Who do you think you are?! You can't order me around! I am in command of this Operation!"

"Dammit, you idiot!" Diana said, standing up. "This Operation is over! We lost! Order the retreat so we can regroup and determine what to do! If you won't then I will!"

Darlian scowled and closed the comm line. "Arrogant fool," Diana said. "What's the status on our Earth-based forces?"

"From what we can tell, they're fine for now. The Alliance hasn't mobilized any forces to attack our bases on Earth yet," Lucius said handing her a personal computer with the initial reports from Earth. "But from the reports coming in, ZAFT is in complete disarray. The entire momentum of the war has changed."

"Indeed it has," Diana mused staring at the initial reports. "Our forces have been devastated today. We won't recover from such a blow for a long time. Perhaps not until after the war is over. The playing field has been virtually leveled now. The question is, what do we do from here?"

* * *

That's it for now. JOSH-A is done with. Now onto the Justice and Panama. Fans of the Druggies will be pleased to know that they'll be in the next chapter. Though we won't actually see them in real combat or their Gundams until Orb.

As always, review!


	22. Phase Twenty One: In The Name Of Justice

Yo everybody! Got two chapters for you all today.

Disclaimer: Kevin Hunter Jr. belongs to SOLDIER-MS. Not me. Like how he is using John in his story, I'm using one of his OCs. Of course, with my own little twist on him.

"_I'll destroy all of you!! RAAAAAGH!!!"_ Kevin Hunter Jr.  
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X151 'Massacre'  
Unit Type: Prototype heavy assault mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Trans-Phase Armor  
Armament: 4x 'Igelstellung' 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, mounted in head, 2x 'Reaver' Gatling guns, fire-linked, mounted within the chest, 1x 'Ragnarok' 100mm energy cannon, mounted within head crest, 4x six-barrel missile pod, mounted on the side of the shins and thighs, 2x eight-barrel missile pod, mounted in shoulders, 2x 'Fenrir' twin barrel energy Gatling gun, hand carried, equipped with individual batteries, 2x 'Gram' beam sabers, mounted behind shoulders  
Pilot: Kevin Hunter Jr  
Appearance: Appearance wise, it resembles the Heavyarms Kai of Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, save with a larger crest on top of the head, a slightly longer V emblem on the forehead, larger flight pack on the back, two large saber hilts, like the Double Zeta's, mounted on the flight pack and two spikes on the shoulders.  
Colors: Almost entirely dark red with black trim. Dark gray thighs, biceps, and face. Black shoulder spikes and saber hilts.  
Info: The fourth of the Earth Alliance's new Gundams, the Massacre was designed for heavy, frontline assaults. Equipped with heavy weapons for mid to close range, it is, like it's counterparts, a terror to face in combat. Especially in the hands of a Biological CPU like Kevin Hunter. The two Fenrir twin energy Gatling guns have their own batteries to prevent the pilot from draining all of the mobile suit's battery power in a wild, frenzied barrage on enemy units. When those guns run out of power and the Reaver Gatling guns run out of ammo, the pilot discards the Fenrir guns and draws the Gram beam sabers, which possess much longer, crimson blades, and continues to fight.  
Author's Notes: Technically, this doesn't entirely belong to me. As I used the Massacre of SOLDIER-MS as the base of it and kept what he wanted the MS to have in the way of weapons. Unlike the one in his story, which was more or less a general purpose machine, I felt that the fourth new MS of the EA, should serve a specific role. As the Raider (transformable, airborne MS), the Forbidden (close-combat, underwater MS) and the Calamity (long range, artillery MS) did. So I turned it into one of the few remaining types of MS. A mid to close range, heavy assault/shock trooper MS. And so I basically merged it with the Heavyarms Kai from Gundam Wing.

* * *

**Phase Twenty-One: In The Name Of Justice**

Thirteen Kilometers from the JOSH-A Crater

Kira had pulled the injured GINN pilot from his damaged mobile suit and laid him out on the beach. The pilot was badly wounded. A piece of shrapnel had lodged itself in his abdomen, and his breathing was slow and labored as if he had to work to take every breath. Kira wasn't sure if he was going to survive. The pilot opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of the pilot and his mobile suit behind him. He stared at the brown haired boy. "Were you... the pilot of that... white mobile suit?" he weakly asked between breaths.

"Yes. Now hold on. I'm gonna get you some help," Kira told him.

The pilot could only smile sadly at the boy's kindness, but he already knew his own fate. "You...should have....left me there...Would...have been...quicker..." The pilot let out one last breath before the life drained from his eyes and his body went limp. Death had taken him.

Kira punched the ground in frustration and sorrow as soon as the ZAFT pilot drew his last breath of life. He had saved the pilot from the Cyclops only to watch him die from his injuries. It was another casualty, another man claimed by the grim reaper, in this whole meaningless war. There was nothing more he could do for the man. Kira stood up and walked down the hill the Freedom and the GINN stood and towards the members of the Archangel's crew gathering beside the warship.

The crew all watched him, some even stared at him, as he approached them from the top of the hill, most of them unsure if he was really there at all. Some believed they stared at the host of one of their most cherished comrade and friend.

A small smile crossed his lips. "I guess I made it just in time," he said trying to break the silence and the awkward glances he was receiving from familiar faces.

"Is it really you Kira?" Murrue asked, her voice shaky as if she was almost afraid that he would disappear at that moment.

Kira nodded as his smile widened a bit. "Yeah. It's me."

"Kira!" Miriallia shouted as she ran towards him with tears of joy rolling down her face. She hugged him as the other crew members gathered around him. They patted him on the back and shoulders as they gave him joyful greetings and thanks for saving them again. Someone even asked him if was alive or a ghost.

"It seems that you aren't an easy person to kill," John said as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's good to see you're still among the living, Kira. If you hadn't come when you did, we probably wouldn't have made it out of there."

"It was nothing," Kira replied embarrassed at the praise he was given from the older man.

John chuckled at his reaction. "Always the humble one."

Kira glanced passed the group around him and saw Chris, Liz, Sai and Kuzzey stood back from the group but all four were smiling at him. Kira walked away from the group gathered around him and headed for the four of them.

Sai was the first to speak. "It's good to see you, Kira."

"Yeah!" Liz started. "You have any idea how worried we were?"

"Ah... Sorry." Kira said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ignore her," Chris said. "We're all just happy to see you alive."

Kira smiled a little and then turned towards Murrue and Mu. Now that everyone has confirmed he was alive, it was time to start answering questions they probably have for him. And he needed to know what their intentions are as well. "I suppose you have a couple million questions for me."

"No. Just a million," Mu said jokingly as he tried to lighten the mood.

Kira almost smiled. If there was one person that could make conversations easier to deal with, it was the commander. "Well, I have plenty of questions for guys as well."

Mu nodded. "Yeah. Well, a lot has happened." He paused as if unsure of the answer he was about to get. "So... Are you with ZAFT now?"

Kira momentarily stared at the commander like he was crazy before he remembered he was wearing a ZAFT flightsuit. "No. I was in the PLANTs for a while, but I haven't joined ZAFT," Kira answered but continued, "However, I'm no longer with the Earth Forces, either."

This reply caused a few to gasp while others became confused. Only their captain, Murrue Ramius, understood what he meant and nodded. "I understand. There's somethings we'll have to talk about," she started as she glanced at the winged mobile suit. "First, this machine of yours. What should we do with that?"

Kira's face turned serious at this point. "If you're talking about maintenance and resupplying, there's no need for that right now. Because this machine is equipped with a Neutron Jammer Canceler."

Everyone was stunned by this revelation. Everyone had believed that the N-Jammers effects couldn't be canceled out, but there some among the group that weren't feeling shock. There were those that felt fear and horror at the N-Jammer Canceler and what it could mean for the war. The return of nuclear weapons was something they were all not looking forward to if it appears that way.

"N-Jammer Canceler?" Mu asked just as stunned as everyone else.

"You mean this machine is nuclear powered?" Jackie Tonomura asked. He just couldn't believe it but there in front of him stood the Freedom as proof.

"Wow. Where'd you get this thing Kira?" Chandra asked.

This was exactly what Kira wanted to avoid. "If you start asking about specifics, you're not going to get anything from me and I'll have to leave," Kira warned them and silenced any further questions they might have had. "And even if I had to fight you, I wouldn't let you take it from me. I was entrusted with it and I will take care of it." For a second, he saw the image of the pink haired songstress in the back of his mind, but he soon snapped out of it.

The captain only sighed understandingly. "Very well then. You have my word that no one will touch your machine or the equipment inside." Murrue turned to the rest of the crew standing behind her. "Is that clear?!"

The crew all nodded or said "Yes."

This seemed to please Kira. "Thank you for understanding."

"Well then," Mu began. "We should probably finish this up inside."

Kira nodded. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Before we go, Kira, I need you to do something for me," John said.

Kira eyed the man warily. "What?"

"Take the Farsight from the Archangel's hull and lay it out on the beach," he solemnly replied after seeing the way the boy reacted. "It's been damaged beyond our ability to repair it, even if we cannibalize that other GINN. I need to dispose of it properly."

Kira glanced at the damaged mobile suit still stranded on the hull. The way the older man said his request made it seem like he was saying goodbye to a friend. The boy could only nod. "I understand."

It didn't take very long for the Freedom to carry the crippled GINN off of the Archangel and lay it out on the beach a safe distance from the warship. The Freedom stepped away from the machine as John pulled out a detonator from his coat pocket. Kira knew what he was planning and he couldn't help but feel the magnitude of how much emotion John must be feeling right now.

"So long, Farsight. You've been a truly great comrade," John said as he pushed the button on the detonator and watched as his mobile suit began its self destruct sequence.

The Farsight's exploded in a great fireball, leaving only a smoldering wreckage behind. John brushed a lone tear from his eye. The Farsight wasn't his first mobile suit, but it was the one he had piloted the longest ever since he was first given the command of the 11th Fleet, in fact. He had grown very attached to it, and it saddened him to see the Farsight destroyed. However, it had been too badly damage to repair. Even had he still been a member of ZAFT and had access to their parts and supplies, most mechanics would tell him that he's better off getting a new machine than taking all the time and money to fix it up. So in the end, he had no other choice but to give the Farsight it's funeral pyre. John raised his hand, saluting his destroyed machine, his friend, and comrade.

* * *

The Archangel's Bridge

A Short While Later

"So that was their strategy?" Kira asked once Mu had explained what happened, though, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"From what we can tell," Mu replied.

"And they decided not to tell us a thing about it," Murrue added.

"It's obvious that Alliance Command knew ahead of time that ZAFT's true target was Alaska, and for quite some time, or they wouldn't have been able to set the Cyclops under the base like that," John included. Naturals weren't the best hackers when it comes to cracking codes made by Coordinators so there was only one other way they had known about this. "Someone tipped them off."

Kira recalled when he first learned of the attack on Alaska. It was back in the PLANTs when he was with Lacus Clyne and her father. "The ZAFT Supreme Council didn't know either."

John was stunned by this. "What? Then that can only mean that the one who informed them was high up. Very high up. High enough that it would be impossible for a spy from the Earth Alliance to achieve such a rank. But that would mean that they were someone in ZAFT that wanted this massacre to happen." Then the realization hit him and his eyes widened. "My God...That means...That means I was right!"

Everyone stared at the man. They did not get the picture and he wasn't explaining himself. "What do you mean?" Kira asked. "Right about what?"

John sighed. "It's long, long story. And if I'm right, which I pray I'm not, then this war just took a turn for the worst in more ways than one. But at the moment, I need to verify a few things first before I can say for certain. I don't know what you're planning, but depending on what it is, I may ask for one of the Sky Graspers so I can get in touch with some of my contacts and find out what exactly has happened."

"That raises another question. Just what are we going to do now?" Chris asked.

"Now..." Murrue said, uncertain of her own answer.

"We haven't been able to raise Command due the interference from the N-Jammers," Romeo informed her. "Should we make repairs on our own and head for Panama?"

"Oh really? And you think they'll be happy to see us?" Mu sarcastically said. "We know far too much for our own good."

"They'll probably say that we disobeyed orders and deserted in the face of the enemy. They'd court marshal us and then lock us up," Murrue added, angry at the whole situation all of them were caught up in. "It's becoming harder and harder to understand who and what we're fighting for."

It was at that moment, Lacus's words echoed in his mind. He understood what he needed to do and it was time for them to realize as well. "Miss Murrue. What is it that you think we should be fighting against? To end this war?" Kira asked. "Whatever it is, I believe that it's time for us to start fighting against it."

She stared at him before saying, "I don't know. I honestly don't know. But at the moment, it isn't with the Earth Forces." The Earth Alliance wouldn't welcome them back, and she wouldn't be surprised if ZAFT was still coming after them. There was one other place she could think of and it isn't too far from their current location. "Set course for Orb. We'll see if they're willing to help us."

"Good idea. If they're not willing to help us, then I should be able to contact the Junk Guild to lend us a hand with repairs," John said.

"Any other suggestions?" Murrue asked the people gathered on the bridge but none said anything. "Very well then. Set course for Orb."

* * *

ZAFT Central Command

Aprilius One

Athrun walk through the command center after passing through numerous ZAFT officers that were frantically rushing to get some scope on the situation. Athrun's old instructor, Commander Yuri, had told him what happened. Operation Spitbreak had failed. Actually, failed wasn't a strong enough word for it. They had been virtually wiped out.

But that hadn't been all. Apparently, Lacus Clyne had betrayed them by helping a spy steal a new prototype mobile suit. Athrun couldn't believe it. Lacus betraying them? Impossible. Lacus would never do such a thing. She was the beloved songstress of the PLANTs and a strong peace advocate. Handing over a new weapon to the Earth Forces would only prolong the war, something he knew Lacus would never want to happen.

Athrun entered the office of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman and saluted. His father was at his desk discussing matters with a group ZAFT officers.

"They used a Cyclops System. We found the remains of a large array under what's left of the base," one officer informed.

"What of Le Creuset?" Patrick Zala asked.

"He's with the group of survivors heading for Carpentaria but he hasn't officially reported in yet."

"When he reaches Carpentaria, I want a full report from him," his father ordered.

"Yes sir," the officer said, saluting.

Another officer entered the room. "Sir. Eileen Canaver and Ian Kessel are requesting an emergency meeting on JOSH-A. They've gathered in the meeting chamber."

Patrick scowled slightly at the mention of Kessel's name. He was getting a migraine and it didn't help that more problems arose to complicate things more. "I need an objective assessment on the situation," he said, ignoring the new arrival. "How many we lost, estimates on our remaining fighting strength, and where the hell is the Clyne family?!"

The officer nearly flinched at their chairman's outburst and almost stuttered his response. "W-we don't know, Sir. It appears that Clyne had an escape route prepared in advance. It may take some time to find them."

"Inform the Justice Department. Eileen Canaver, Ian Kessel, and the other council members that supported Clyne are to be detained immediately!"

"But sir-"

"Lacus Clyne was seen consorting with a spy. Now she and her father are missing and the plans to Operation Spitbreak's true target were leaked to the enemy!" Patrick said, slamming his fists on the desk angrily. "It's obvious even to a child what happened! Clyne betrayed us! Now that bastard Kessel and the others are demanding answers from me! They're the ones to blame! Yes...In fact, they're probably the ones that are hiding them! Of course! That's the only explanation!"

Athrun was stunned by this order. His father had just removed virtually everyone on the Council that weren't his supporters. He may not know about politics completely, but this isn't something a Chairman should do with their power and authority.

The officers nodded and walked out of the office, leaving Athrun with his father. For the first time in his life, he felt nervous standing in front of him. His father sat back down on his chair, rubbing his forehead as Athrun walked up to the desk. "Father," he said.

"What did you call me?" his father growled. He was not in the best of moods.

Athrun flinched and quickly corrected himself. "My apologies, Supreme Council Chairman Zala."

Patrick Zala stared at his son with cold eyes. "Do you understand how serious the situation is?"

"Yes... But still. I can't believe what I'm hearing. Lacus aiding a spy? It's just not possible."

"Look at this," his father said, pushing a button on his desk. A panel on the wall opened and revealed a large screen. The image of mobile suit appeared. It was the very same mobile suit that flew passed his shuttle as he was heading back to the PLANTs. Standing before the machine were two people with their backs to the camera. The first was a brown haired person in a ZAFT Red Coat uniform. He couldn't recognize this guy, but he felt a sense of familiarity from him. Next to him was a girl in a dress with pink hair. The girl turned to face the camera seconds before the feed was cut. There was no doubt about who it was. It was Lacus.

"This was taken by a security camera at a military factory. The Freedom was stolen immediately after this was taken. Why would anyone accuse her unless the evidence was beyond dispute? You may think it's not possible, but these are the facts. It goes without saying that you're engagement to Lacus Clyne is over. It hasn't officially announced, but she's being treated as a fugitive wanted for treason."

Athrun grimaced. Treason... He had hoped that it was mistake or some nightmare or even some kind of bad joke! Or that it was an impostor posing as Lacus, but there was no denying it now. She had helped a spy steal a new, prototype mobile suit.

"Your next mission will be to recover the stolen X10A Freedom and eliminate the pilot as well as all persons and places that he might have come in contact with," his father said, turning off the screen. "Pick up the X09A Justice from the Armory and leave as soon as the preparations are complete. If the Freedom cannot be recovered, you are authorized to destroy it."

His father's orders surprised him. Eliminating the pilot, he understood, but eliminating all that came into contact with it as well? "Eliminating everyone and everything that it came in contact with? Isn't that a little extreme?" he asked.

"Those machines, the X09A Justice and X10A Freedom, are equipped with Neutron Jammer Cancelers."

Athrun's face became white. "They have N-Jammer Cancelers?! Impossible!" Athrun said, horrified at the secret of the new machines. "Why did you build them?! The PLANTs made the decision to abandon nuclear technology!"

"If we want to win this war, then we'll need that power," Patrick replied as he pushed the call button summoning a member of his staff. "Your mission is extremely important. Give it your utmost effort. Now go."

* * *

ZAFT Supreme Council Meeting Chamber

A group of armed soldiers entered the council chamber. "What is the meaning of this?" Eileen demanded.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," the officer said. "But you, Councilers Kessel, Kasim, Jesek, and Elsman are to be placed under arrest by orders of Chairman Zala."

Many council members were stunned. Patrick Zala was arresting all of those that had opposed him and his supporters. Removing any opposition to Patrick Zala's faction and making him the undisputed ruler of ZAFT.

Ian chuckled from his seat. "So...Zala must either be desperate or insane to pull such a stunt. He's forced my hand, so I shall force his, " he mumbled and stood up, reaching into the pocket of his coat.

All of the soldiers aimed their rifles at him. "Do me a favor. Tell Patrick Zala, that he's gone too far this time and that I'll be coming for him. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But make no mistake, I'm coming for him," he said, pulling his hand out of his pocket.

Two the surprise of everyone in the room, he held his hand up at the soldiers, holding it like a mock gun. Before anyone could react, two of the ZAFT soldiers in the rear of the group, Clyne supporters, secretly dropped a pair of smoke grenades in their group. The smoke grenades went off filling the room with smoke. Chaos reined as everyone tried to figure out what happened. There was the sound of footsteps, punches, and bodies hitting the ground. When the smoke cleared and everyone could see again, four guards, including the two that dropped the grenades, were unconscious on ground and Ian was gone. "Dammit!" the officer swore. "Don't let him escape! Find him!"

* * *

Ian Kessel entered his office with his assistant. Sitting on his chair was a ZAFT officer's uniform, a pair of sunglasses and a blond, men's wig. He quickly changed and handed his clothes to his assistant. "Hide these and get out of here," he told the young woman.

"Yes sir." She nodded before leaving.

Ian pulled out a suitcase from under his desk and pulled out for his cell phone. "It's me. Zala's arrested Clyne's supporters on the Council. Fortunately, my escape plan so far has gone off without a hitch. Warn my wife about what's happened. And my daughter as soon as possible. If I'm not at the meeting spot in two hours, then I've been caught. Until then." He closed the phone and left his office.

The whole building was in an uproar. Soldiers were searching for him. They clearly thought that only an idiot would return to their office after that stunt and they had only just now decided to check his office. "Sir, what were you doing in there?" one of the several soldiers present asked.

"What does it look like?" he said, lowering the tone of his voice to sound different. "A possible spy is on the loose and I was ordered to search his office for an incriminating evidence which is what I found. I must get these documents to the Justice Department. Now! Or would you like to be the one to tell Chairman Zala that you've been holding up an investigation into the traitors within our own government?"

"No sir. Sorry sir!" the soldier nervously stuttered as he and his comrades stepped aside.

Ian walked past them. _'So far, so good. Let's hope I don't run into any soldiers that have a backbone,'_ he thought as he headed for the exit.

* * *

Lodonia Extended Laboratory

A car with tinted windows approached the gates of the large facility. The car stopped at the gates and a guard approached the driver's door as the window rolled down. The driver silently handed the guard a piece of paper. The man read the paper, nodded and handed it back. "They're expecting the Director at the main building," he told the driver. "It's the large building in the center of the facility."

The gates opened and the car headed for the largest building in the facility. The car pulled off alongside the main entrance and the rear passenger door opened. A blond haired man in a powder blue suit stepped out. A lone dark haired man in a lab coat was waiting for him outside the entrance.

"Ah...Director Azrael. Welcome to Lodonia. We've been expecting you," the Head Doctor of the facility politely greeted him. "I trust that your trip was pleasant."

"Please Dr. Andras, I'm short on time, so if we could skip the pleasantries today," Muruta Arael said.

"Of course. You're here for the Biological CPU Project, correct?"

"Yes. We have four new machines to use against the Coordinators, but no suitable pilots for them," Azrael said. "I trust that you have at least four CPUs that I can use."

"We have more than four ready for combat, but I'll give the top four," Dr. Andras said. "Come. I'll show you."

Dr. Andras lead Azrael through the hallways of the facility, passing rooms of children, some as young as six, being taught to become trained killers. There were even rooms with doctors preforming terrible operations on children by breaking their minds and bodies, and then remaking them into weapons. Most people would be horrified to see such things, but men like Azrael didn't see it that way. He saw it as merely the production of newer and better weapons to use against mankind's greatest and most hated enemy, the Coordinators. Men like Dr. Andras and most of those that worked here only saw an opportunity to improve human genetic enhancements or to create a super soldier.

"The Biological CPUs have all been subjected to some biotechnological modifications to enhance their abilities to levels on par with a Coordinator. We've given them extensive mental conditioning by removing their memories of their past and other things that would prove to be a distraction in combat, as well as their sense of fear, while increasing their aggression,"Andras explained as they walked through the corridors.

"Unfortunately, the increased aggression also makes them harder to control. But we've solved that problem. We've begun giving them the performance enhancing drug, Gamma Glipheptin. While the drug boosts their already formidable combat abilities, it has some negative effects on the CPUs. Most notably, the withdrawal effects that occur once the drug has run out of their systems and the damage it does to their nervous systems, but the addictiveness of the drug is what will keep them in line. They're not perfect, but they're definitely combat ready. We're hoping in a few years for one of the two next generations to be ready for use."

"The next two generations have been approved? I've never heard anything about that. Who approved it?" Azrael asked.

"Djibril. He felt that it was necessary to prepare for all possible outcomes for this war. As well as it's aftermath should we win the war."

"Djibril," Azrael said in annoyance.

Djibril was always trying to interfere with his plans. He was the second most powerful man in LOGOS and Blue Cosmos behind Azrael himself. Azrael hated the viper of a man. Djibril was always plotting and scheming of his own plans and ambitions. There were those that considered him evil, but Djibril was much worse than he was. He simply wished to remove the threat of the Coordinators whether eliminating them all or just caging them and using them for the benefit of the true humans: the Naturals. Djibril wanted to wipe out the Coordinators and build a world empire with LOGOS as the secret leaders of Earth. Azrael didn't really want that, after all, he was the Director of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate. He made money off of war. Where was the profit for him if there was only one nation on Earth and no Coordinators to fight?

"You see, with the success of the Biological CPUs, we've become divided over how to improve on them. Some have come up with a true second generation of Extended, while I and my supporters have come up with the EX-C Project or the Extended Gamma Project as some call them which will generate greater soldiers than whatever they come up with."

"Hmm... I've read the report you sent about the EX-C Project and I have to say you may have a point there doctor, but the materials you need won't be easy to come up with."

"I mentioned this to Djibril. He said not to worry. He would see to that we would get all of the materials we need for the project."

The two entered Andras's office. Dr. Andras sat down and began typing on his computer. A minute later, he stood up. "These are the files of four best, combat ready prototypes," the doctor said, gesturing for Azrael to take his seat.

The files on the four CPUs were displayed on the screen before them. "Shani Andras... I see you're truly dedicated to the work here, Doctor," Azrael said as he skimmed his file.

"Indeed. I found a use for my useless son," Doctor Andras proudly said. "For years, I never thought he would never amount to anything but he's finally proven me wrong."

Azrael nodded and resumed reading. "Clotho Buer... arrested for petty thief and rape..." Azrael chuckled. "I'm surprised that, considering the victim, you managed to get him."

"Mr. Lorne said 'Use him as a guinea pig, make him into something useful. Or kill him. I don't care, so long as he never comes near my daughter again.' So I put him in the program."

"Kevin Hunter Jr... stabbed his own father to death sixty-nine times... And only at age thirteen... Quite vicious."

Andras smirked. "He's one of my favorites. He arrived here not long after killing his father. He was completely quiet and emotionless when he arrived. Now... Well... Let's just say he's much more interesting."

"Orga Sabnak... arrested by the military as part of a group of smugglers selling military hardware to the black market and the enemy... during the arrest, he managed to destroy two tanks single-handedly with an RPG... Hmm.... They're all quite impressive."

"We've been putting them in simulators where they pilot those prototypes from Heliopolis against high numbers of ZAFT mobile suits and situations that most pilots would find unsurvivable. And every simulation ended in victory for them. We can put them through another simulation for you if you like."

"No. I'll take them," Azrael said. "How long will it be to get them ready?"

"A few days to prepare the team of doctors for their maintenance and the drugs."

Azrael nodded. "The new mobile suits will require another two weeks at most before they're ready. If I send you the data on the machines, could you use the simulators to train them in using the new machines?"

"Of course," Andras said. "We can have them start tomorrow afternoon if we get the data today."

Azrael grinned. "Good. I'll have the data sent to you at once. I want them ready to pilot those machines by the time they're completed."

* * *

The Next Day

Four teenagers sat in the chairs of the waiting room. One teen, listening to an MP3 player, had long, messy, pale green hair that covered much of the left side of his face, leaving only his purple, right eye in sight. Shani Andras didn't care, however. The doctors had told him that his left eye was ugly, deformed, and hideous. And it was. Shani knew that. It needed to be covered up from the world, its ugliness hidden. He had once strangled a fellow test subject to death when she had mocked his deformed eye.

Near him sat Orga Sabnak reading a book. He had light blue eyes and slicked back olive green hair. Like the others, his hair and eye color had changed from what had been done to them. Out of the four of them, he was considered the most mentally stable and the closest thing to squad leader among the four. Of course, he was just as prone to firing on his teammates as the rest of them were.

Next to him, Kevin Hunter Jr. sat, his blue eyes locked on the small book he was writing in. The gray haired teen was territorial over his notebook to the extreme. A couple of orderlies tried to take it from him once. Big mistake. One left with a broken nose. Another was left with a broken hand and Keven had bit the ear off the third before they managed to restrain him. After that, no one tried to take it from him again. While he was quiet outside of combat, he became more like a beast in combat frequently howling and snarling like a wild animal.

The last one, with bright red hair, was Clotho Buer. He was playing his handheld video game. The game's sounds were the only sounds in the room. He was the loudest of them, often shouting out cries of battle from the video games he played and was more prone to picking fights with others than the rest of them, though not as much when compared with Kevin.

A group of orderlies entered the room, lead by a blond haired woman. "It's time for another simulation," the woman said.

The four Biological CPUs stopped what they were doing and stood up. They didn't like this woman. She was supposedly the mother of that snot-nosed brat, Auel. They all hated most of those little brats that were to be their successors. Of course, they didn't really care for each other either or anyone from this facility for that matter.

The orderlies led them to the simulator room. The room was round with four simulators evenly spaced along the walls. There was an observation room in balcony overlooking the room. A nurse carrying a tray with four small vials of Gamma Glipheptin, entered the room. The Head Doctor stood in the observation room. They all hated that prick above all others. All of the subjects of the program hated him. Any of them would give anything to skin the man alive.

"Hello boys," the Doctor said with that sickening smirk of his. "We have something new for you today. Same old simulation, but brand new mobile suits, mobile suits that, in two weeks, you'll be piloting in real combat, should you all perform better than you have been, that is. If not, then you will never, ever leave this facility."

This caught their attention. All of them hated this hellhole. A chance to escape from here, even for a little while, was definitely desired by all of them. And that wasn't including the fun of real combat. The four Biological CPUs grinned. They were gonna prove that were ready for real combat even if they had to go through a hundred of these simulations.

"Now, take your meds so we can begin."

The four each took a vial. Kevin downed the contents of the small bottle as the others did the same. A slight shudder shot up his spine as the drug entered his system while a grin spread across his face. He loved this drug. The rush, the euphoria, the feeling that you could take on the whole world and crush it beneath your heel was a wonderful feeling. The withdrawal, however, was a bitch, but who cared about that now? Now was the time to have fun.

"Choose your machines," the Doctor ordered.

One by one, each of them sat down at a simulator. The machines came to life displaying the schematics of the GAT-X151 Massacre. Kevin gripped the controls as a feral grin spread across his face. The simulation started as dozens of GINNs appeared on the screen as did the GAT-X252 Forbidden, the GAT-X370 Raider and the GAT-X131 Calamity. The GINNs advanced on them, firing out their rifles. Kevin snickered as he brought the Massacre's two Fenrir twin Gatling guns to bare on the GINNs. "Time to die pests!!" Kevin roared, firing on the GINNs.

"Hey! Don't hog all the fun!" Orga said as he fired the Calamity's shoulder cannons at the GINNs.

"Annihilate!" Clotho shouted as rounds from the Raider's railguns tore through some of the GINNs.

The Forbidden's plasma induction cannon fired and a beam streaked through a horde of GINNs. Halfway through, the beam curved, destroying more mobile suits as Shani snickered. Clotho threw his spherical breaker. The heavy metal ball tore through a GINN, tearing it's head off and slamming into a GINN behind it. Orga let loose with all of the Calamity's guns. It's overwhelming firepower destroying whole groups of GINNs. The Massacre's chest opened up, revealing two more Gatling guns. Beams and bullets rained from the six guns shredding GINNs like there was no tomorrow. Shani charged the advancing GINNs, his Nidhoggr scythe raised. He sliced through a pair of GINNs directly in front of him. "Move!" Kevin screamed, firing the Massacre's Ragnarok beam cannon the Forbidden.

The Forbidden spun around, it's Geschmeidig Panzer energy deflector sliding over it's head. The beam struck the shields and was deflected to the left, piercing a GINN. Shani laughed as the deflector returned to it's original position. Kevin growled in annoyance, but quickly turned his attention back to the GINNs. It didn't take long for all the GINNs to be destroyed. "Come on!!" Kevin roared. "Bring us more targets!!"

"Yeah!!" Clotho shouted.

Dr. Andras chuckled. "Don't worry. More opponents are coming."

He turned to the technician manning the simulator control console. "Impressive. They beat their best time by almost a full minute," he said. "You heard him. Double the number of mobile suits and throw in some BuCUEs and DINNs as well."

"Yes Doctor."

"And increase the AI's intelligence. We need to test their full capabilities in these new machines."

* * *

Onogoro Island

The Archangel sailed into the very same hidden port they had been in the last time they were here. And just like the last time, the ship was badly damaged, though not quite as bad as it was then. As the Archangel docked with the port, Cagalli ran through the corridors of the hidden port, heading for the Archangel. The door to the Archangel opened. Cagalli was about to run through it when a doctor and a nurse pushing a stretcher with a wounded crew member barreled through the doorway. Cagalli stepped aside letting the more important group pass. She caught a glimpse of the person's injuries and it made her sick to to think that Kira might have ended up like this as well.

Once they passed, she resumed her running until she found him. "Kira!" she shouted, embracing the teen in hug which sent them both to the ground.

"Cagalli?" a very surprised Kira said as Cagalli lay on top of him.

"You are such an idiot!" she shouted as she pounded at his chest with tears sliding down her cheeks. "You're just... You're so... I never thought I'd see you again! How could you do that to me?!"

Kira took one good glance at her face and he knew she had been crying for days. She was tired and probably didn't get enough sleep. He said the only thing he could for her. "Sorry."

She stopped pounding his chest and finally looked into his violet eyes. "So... you're really alive?" Cagalli asked as though, at any moment, Kira would disappear again.

"Yeah. I'm alive. And I did come back," Kira said. "Now. Could you please get off me."

* * *

The Bridge

The bridge officers of Archangel, as well as Mu and John, all stood as Lord Uzumi Nara Athha and his entourage entered the bridge. "I'd like to thank you for coming to our aid once again sir," Murrue said.

"Given the circumstances, I'm sure you understand that we can't officially welcome you and your crew to Orb. But in any case, you'll finally be able to get some rest," Uzumi replied.

Murrue nodded. "Thank you."

Uzumi glanced around at the group, noting their weary expressions and defeated looks. "With the destruction of the Earth Alliance Headquarters, the world is once again drifting in a new direction," he told them. "Once you've rested up, I'll update you with the latest news. You'll see for yourselves. I'm sure it will provide you with more than enough food for thought. You might even question why you wear that uniform in the first place."

* * *

Orb Military HQ

A Few Hours Later

Lord Uzumi, General Dante, Cagalli and Ledonir Kisaka listened quietly as Kira, Mu and Murrue took turns explaining what had happened to them. Chris, John, Liz and the Archangel's bridge officers were there as well.

"A Cyclops System? But even if the details of ZAFT's invasion plan had been leaked, that seems like a rather harsh course of action." Uzumi Nara Athha was visibly disturbed by what had happened at Alaska.

"But you have to admit, from a strategic stand point, it was a tremendous victory. Destroying eighty percent of ZAFT's forces in the operation in exchange for the loss of a smaller, undesirable force. To any military strategist or leader, that's definitely a worthwhile sacrifice," Samuel Dante said.

"And here's the result." Uzumi pushed a button on the TV remote.

Images of the ruins of JOSH-A appeared on the screen. "_To the last soldier, our defense forces fought heroically. The destruction of JOSH-A and the sorrow that accompanied that loss shall be forever be marked in history as a day of infamy."_ Images of the wounded survivors of the battle appeared. "_But despite this loss, we shall never submit to them. What right do the Coordinators have to threaten the security of our skies? The sacrifice that was made was immense, however, we must overcome this great loss and confront our enemies wherever we may find them."_ The image changed to that of anti-Coordinator rallies and marching Earth Alliance soldiers. "_We must gather our strength and fight against the arrogant Coordinators to ensure the freedom and security of the people of Earth! To ensure the preservation of our blue and pure world!"_

"God. I hate that line," Chris blurted out as Lord Uzumi turned off the TV. "How the hell is killing Coordinators going to make the world blue and pure? It's nothing but bullshit."

"I understand why it's happened, but it's sure tough to swallow," Mu said with a sigh.

"To go along with the tone of it's rhetoric, the Atlantic Federation has been increasing it's political pressure on all of the neutral nations. They're being told that any nation that doesn't join the Alliance will be considered an enemy nation," Athha informed them. "Of course, Orb is no exception to this."

"They just want to get their hands on Orb's power," an angry Cagalli added.

"I'm sure you're all aware of this, but Orb does not refuse entry to Coordinators. We're one of the few countries that allow anyone to enter and reside within our boarders as long as they honor the ideals and laws of Orb. We believe that no one should be judged on whether or not his or hers genes have be engineered. The only thing that labeling someone a Natural or a Coordinator does is create friction between people." Uzumi turned to Kira and his daughter. "Cagalli is a Natural. While Kira is a Coordinator. These are facts they have absolutely no control over. I cannot support the policies of the Atlantic Federation, because it labels every Coordinator an enemy and evil, insisting on attacking them for that bias reason. Who is really fighting who here? And what is the real reason behind it?"

"But sir. I understand the point of what your saying. And excuse me for saying this, but isn't your position a little... idealistic?" Mu asked. "Those sound like wonderful ideas, but Coordinators will continue to look down on Naturals who, in turn, will be jealous of Coordinators. That's just the way things are."

Lord Uzumi nodded and stood up. "I am aware of that," he said, walking away from the table. "It goes without saying, our nation has difficulty living up to this. But if we gave up on trying to improve situation, then in the end, we'd be left with no other choice but to eliminate each other. At that point, it'd be too late to do anything but reflect and regret what had passed."

Uzumi stopped and turned to the group. "My friends, you wouldn't be suggesting that we keep silent and let this happen, would you? Because that's what the rest of the world is doing. From this point, you can choose your own course in life. I can understand if you still feel loyalty to the Earth Alliance, but you're all young and capable. Make you decisions carefully. And be sure to choose the future you truly desire."

"What's your view on this, Lord Uzumi?" Kira asked.

The former Chief Representative of Orb approached the former Earth Alliance Ensign. "I believe we are entering a time when our swords can no longer be held simply for display," he solemnly replied.

* * *

Morgenroete

Later That Day

The Raven, the Buster, the Surge and a jeep entered the hanger. Erica Simmons stepped out of the vehicle. "Park them on that side of the hanger!" she shouted, waving towards the left side of hanger. The three mobile suits lined up on the left side of the hanger and powered down. Chris, Liz and John exited the machines. "So why did you ask us all here, Chief Simmons?" Mu asked as he, Kira and Cagalli climbed out of the jeep. "I understand that you wanted to upgrade the Raven and tune up the machines we recaptured, but why are Kira and I here?"

"I have some things to show you before we start work on the Raven and the other two machines," Erica said as Chris, Liz and John joined the rest of the group. "Follow me."

A few minutes later, the group found themselves approaching another hanger. "You know we've been quite busy since you were all last here," Erica said as they approached the doors to the hanger. "We haven't just been outfitting the Astrays with the Natural OS."

She opened the doors and they all entered the hanger. Greeting them was a pair of mobile suits. One familiar. One not. The first mobile suit was the Strike completely repaired and restored. In fact, it looked as new as the day Kira first entered the cockpit. The other mobile suit, while similar to the Strike, was new to them. It looked kinda like someone had built a Strike using components from both the Strike and one of the Astrays. Its head crest was topped with angled-back spikes. Its shoulders and skirt were longer than the ones on the Astrays and the Strike and more stylized than the other machines giving it a distinct look to it.

"Of course, you already know the Strike but the machine next to it is the MBF-MX1 Athena. It's a prototype for a limited production mobile suit for Orb Commanders and aces. It's faster and more maneuverable than the Strike and is equipped with an improved version of the Phase Shift Armor. It also has the hardpoints for mounting Striker Packs and we're planning on using it to test the new Striker Packs we've been developing," Erica said. "It's almost completed. Pretty much all we have to do is install the OS and few other minor things."

"As for the Strike, we recovered it after your last battle in it. The damage to it looked worse than it actually was, though because we didn't know what happened to you, we replaced the OS with one for Naturals but we can switch it if you like."

Kira looked up at his old mobile suit. "No," he said. "I have new mobile suit now."

"Then I'll pilot it," Cagalli called out instantly. "If that's okay with you Kira."

"No," Mu interrupted.

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm piloting it," Mu replied.

"Hold on there. We still have two more surprises for you all," Erica said, walking around the mobile suits.

Behind the two machines were two more mobile suits lying on the ground and being worked on by Morgenroete crews. The first was a second Strike unit with a few minor differences over the original. Notably, holsters for the knives stored in the forearms. A group of crew members appeared to be struggling to load one of the knives into a holster. "Come on! What's taking so long?!" Johanna Dante shouted from on top of it's chest. "Why haven't you gotten that knife loaded into the forearm yet?! That was suppose to be done half an hour ago!"

Crews scrambled to get the knife in question loaded into the forearm holder. Johanna climbed off the mobile suit's chest as the group approached. "Hi. Showing them the new machines?"

Erica nodded. "Well then," Johanna began, turning to the rest of the group, "you can consider this the Strike 2.0. It has an improved battery and the improved Phase Shift Armor, but big difference is that it's equipped with what we call the Camo Shift Armor System: an alternative to Mirage Colloid System. Unlike the MC system, this system can be used for as long as there is power for the Phase Shift, but as its name implies, it doesn't provide complete visual invisibility. The system adjusts the color of the Phase Shift to blend in with it's surroundings and makes it invisible to radar and sensors. When the suit is stationary and the system is activated, it's next to impossible to detect unless the enemy is right on top of it. And the defensive power of the Phase Shift Armor System remains active during this time, protecting it. It's an effective system for stealth and sniper units, however, movement does reduce the effectiveness of it as it can't adjust quickly to sudden changes in its surroundings."

"Do you have a pilot for it yet?" John asked.

"No. It's still a few days from being completed."

"Then if you'll let me, I'll take it. I need a new mount."

Johanna smiled and nodded. "Then we'll have to mount this one with the Sniper Aile Striker for you."

"The next machine should be familiar to you all. It was in even worse shape than the Strike. In fact, what we recovered wasn't enough to restore it. So we took what was left and used it as the core of a new machine," Erica said, directing them to the second machine. "We call it the Neo Blitz."

The machine before them was far from complete. Only it's head, torso and right leg seemed to be complete. At the moment, the crews were attaching the left leg to the machine but it was the Blitz.

"When it's complete, it will have the improved Phase Shift Armor as well as its Mirage Colloid stealth system. That Mirage Colloid is certainly an interesting system. We've been experiment with it and we're hoping that the Neo Blitz will serve as a testbed for some of those experimental systems," Erica explained. "Of course, it won't be defenseless. We are planning on equipping it with weapons similar to what the original once had."

"An impressive assortment of machines," Chris whistled. "So what are you going to do with them?"

"Depends on what happens next," Samuel Dante said as he approached the group. "The Athena will join our Astrays as protectors of Orb. As for both Strike units, I see no reason that you can't have them if you want them. Same with the Neo Blitz, if Miss Simmons here is willing to part with it. It technically belongs with the Archangel alongside the Raven, the Strike and the those two machines you recaptured."

"You're just going to give us these machines?" Mu asked.

"Yes. Lord Uzumi himself said to give these machines to you," Samuel said. "He said that if you're going to try to end this war, then you're going to need the strength of these machines to do it. Personally, I agree with him. You're going to need more than just the four machines aboard the Archangel."

"Yeah, but we only have five pilots," Mu said.

"For now, but one never knows what tomorrow might bring. Just because you have only five pilots, doesn't mean that you will always have five pilots." General Dante turned to the two machines under construction. "That is one thing I have learned in life. Things can change in an instant."

* * *

Now, I'm purposely revealing as little information on the new machines from Morgenroete as possible. I don't plan to reveal their full armaments and capabilities until the battle of Orb. When they first see combat. Hence, I have only done a mobile suit stat section on the Massacre, since that one actually saw combat. Or at least a virtual version of it saw combat.

And before anyone says, 'But why did you choose Athena for the name of an Orb MS, when just about every other Orb machine has a Japanese name?' I know that already. The reason I chose the name is because I couldn't come up with a Japanese, or at least Japanese-ish, name for it. So, I used the in-development name I had for it instead.

For the background of the Druggies, I know that in the canon, it's stated that they were criminals that were offered a clean slate if they became Biological CPUs. But I believe that was before Destiny was made. Because to me, that doesn't seem to fit what they came up with the Extended and Lodonia. The whole Extended program would have had to have been up and running for years before BV war started. So I took their vague background and altered it to what I believe their background was. That were basically orphans, youth criminals, children of members of the project. Children that no one wanted or would miss. They were then taken by agents of the Atlantic Federation to the Extended lab. Then I created individual bios for them as well as what they looked like before they were experimented on. Bright red, pale green and olive green are not natural hair colors. What they went through clearly changed that.

And the Extended Gammas are a special creation of mine that will appear in Destiny alongside the canon Extended.

As to Azrael's comments on Djibril. That's my interpretation of their characters and motivation. Prior to the first firing of GENESIS, Azrael implied that he would have been just as happy, having the Coordinators as slaves to the Naturals, as he was with wiping them out. And that's likely what would have happened to the remaining Coordinators if they had managed to nuke the PLANTs. Actually, that'd make an interesting story there. Having the Clyne Faction fail to stop the nukes in time and the Earth Alliance winning the first BV war and turning the surviving Coordinators into slaves. As to Djibril and the whole world empire thing, some of those early LOGOS meetings in Destiny, implied that he had his own plans for creating a single world government, by using Break the World as a rallying cry for the nations of Earth to unite against ZAFT. Azrael never struck me as a person who particularly wanted that. He did say that how the nations of Earth must unite against the Coordinators, but never seemed as...I don't know, fanatical as Djibril was. He was more like a business man while Djibril appeared fanatical and power-hungry. But that's just how I felt about those two.

Oh and that reminds me. There's an awesome AMV on Youtube, called 'Gundam Pilots of Destruction (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed)' by kickassanimefan. It's clips of the Druggies in action set to the song 'Instruments of Destruction' by NRG. Which is easily, the best song for the Druggies and I call it the unofficial theme of the Druggies. Technically, it could easily be the theme song for all the Extended as well as Sven and his group. But it fits the Druggies better.


	23. Phase Twenty Two: Divine Thunder

Now. This is a double update. So go back and read chapter twenty-one first. Especially, if you're a fan of the Druggies, like me.

**Phase Twenty-Two: Divine Thunder**

Aboard the Cousteau

Several Days Later

"Panama... I think HQ is asking too much of us this time," the Cousteau's Captain said, his tone weary. "We just don't have the forces."

"We really don't have any other choice," Rau told him. "The Chairman has ordered us to disrupt the momentum the Earth Forces gained from Alaska before the homeland becomes threatened. We need to close the door to space by trapping them here on Earth. That's why it's imperative that we destroy Panama's Mass Driver."

"What of the Gungnirs?" the Captain asked.

"They'll arrive on schedule," Rau replied.

"Gungnirs...I've heard some of the officers and pilots complaining about relying on something that's never been used in combat before to win the battle. But the real problem's on our side. Will we even be able to capture the target points in time?"

"Our soldiers have sworn to extract harsh vengeance for Alaska. We will succeed," Le Creuset said before leaving the bridge.

* * *

Rau's Quarters

Flay sat in a chair. Ever since that man had kidnapped her at Alaska, she had been locked in his quarters. She hadn't showered in days, nor was she given clean clothes. In fact, she still had the handgun from Alaska.

Flay hated the man and this whole situation she was in. She was trapped on a ZAFT vessel. There was no way for her escape or for her to contact the Archangel or the Earth Forces. She didn't even know where Chris and the Archangel were after what happened at Alaska. She supposed that she should be thankful to the man for saving her life. Had he not kidnapped her, she likely would have died in the destruction of the base. But he was still a creep. What she hated the most about him was that his voice sounded almost exactly like her father's. Several times already, she reminded herself that her father was dead and this man was not her father.

The door suddenly opened and Flay stood up pointing the gun at Rau as he entered the room. He completely ignored her and sat down at his desk. "A battle is about to begin. Would you like to observe?" he asked reading from a personal computer. "I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place, but orders are orders so it can't be helped."

"But why... Why did you take me?" Flay wanted to know.

Rau let out a quiet snicker. "You're already living on borrowed time, aren't you, Flay Alster? Back at Alaska, you have been equally dead whether I had shot at you or let you run off."

Flay kept her gun on him, her hands trembling slightly. An amused smirk crossed Creuset's lips. "And you'd die within moments if you were to shoot me now. The soldiers on board would hear the gunshot and come running. Or if you didn't want them to finish you off, I suppose you could turn the gun on yourself after you kill me," he said. "I assume, of course, the gun is loaded."

He stood up and walked towards her. "On the battlefield, life is cheap. It's lost in an instant. And yet, people still fight and die for their country, for justice, or for whatever other insignificant reason. But you're not really cut out for that sort of the thing, are you, Flay Allster?" he said as he walked past her. "You may be wearing that uniform, but you're no soldier."

He stopped and turned around. "You're nothing but a scared, helpless little girl caught up in events far greater than what you can comprehend."

She had enough of this creep. She may not be soldier and she may be scared, but she wasn't a helpless little girl. Flay spun around and punched Rau square in the face. He stumbled back a few steps, blood leaking from his nose. That bitch! How dare she strike him! Rau slapped her with one hand as his other hand ripped the gun from her hands. He turned the gun on her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Flay. Her entire life flashed before her eyes as Creuset squeezed the trigger...

There was a click and trigger refused to move but nothing else happened. Rau glanced down at the gun. The girl had forgotten to flick the safety off. Rau started to laugh. "You're lucky, Flay Allster. If you hadn't forgotten to turn the safety off, you'd be dead by now," he said lowering the gun. "You may not be a soldier, but I won't think of you as a scared, helpless little girl again."

Creuset turned and headed for the door. The door opened and he stopped for a moment. "Oh. And don't think that I won't punish you for that," he said, an evil smirk forming on his lips. "I'm too busy at the moment. So your _punishment_ will be later on tonight."

* * *

ZAFT Fleet

In Earth Orbit

ZAFT mobile suits were launched from the warships. They moved towards the dropships and their drop pods. A purple CGUE entered a pod with a trio of colored GINN High Maneuver Types. Five Laurasia class warship, modified to launch Gungnirs, waited alongside the dropships.

"Gungnirs... Bah! Things like those take all the fun out of being a soldier." Ajay complained as they waited for the Operation to begin.

Diana ignored him. "Listen up. Our job is to secure landing sites for the Gungnirs. Once they're cleared, the Gungnirs will be launched. Once they've been fired off, this battle will end."

"Attention all forces, prepare for space drop," the dropship's combat coordinator said. "In ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one."

There was a shudder as the pod was launched. The pod started it's descent towards the atmosphere alongside dozens of other pods. "YEEEEEEE-HAW!!!" Ajay shouted as entered they entered the atmosphere.

A few minutes later, the pods finished their atmospheric entry. The pods streaked through the air heading for the Port Panama Base and it's Mass Driver. Elsewhere, DINNs, Guul mounted GINNs, ZnOs, GOOhNs and the Duel were launched from the sub carriers.

Port Panama's defenders scrambled as the ZAFT forces approached the base. The drop pods opened, releasing their mobile suits. Fighters were scrambled to intercept the mobile suits as anti-air turrets power up. Diana fired her newly acquired beam rifle at a trio of approaching fighters as other ZAFT mobile suits opened fire as well. From the sea, airborne and amphibious mobile suits attacked, hitting naval warships and beach defenses.

The space-borne mobile suits slowed their descent. Those that weren't shot down by the defenders, landed safely on the ground and continued to engage the Earth Forces. Basque Gideon fired off his Barrus heavy particle cannon and Gatling guns at a group of gun emplacements on the side of a mountain. DINNs and Guul mounted GINNs chased down the Earth Forces' fighters, blowing them out of the sky. ZnOs emerged from the waters around Panama, attacking the coastal defenses and installations of the Port Panama Base. Tanks and gun emplacements roared, their shells striking some of the attacking mobile suits. The ZAFT forces were heavily outnumbered. But as always, their mobile suits were far superior to what the Earth Forces could bring to bear.

* * *

Archangel's Bridge

Onogoro Island

"How are the repairs coming along?" Murrue asked as she sat down in the Captain's chair.

The bridge officers, Mu, John and Chief Murdoch, were there with her.

"Both the Orb crews and my guys have gotten a fair amount of the repairs done," Murdoch informed the captain. "A few more days and we'll be done and ready to go."

"Then what?" John asked, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Kira said we should fight to end the war but how do we go about doing that? Should we go into space and link up with the pink princess and my comrades? Or should we stay on Earth and do something here?"

Murrue sighed. That was a very good question. Who should they be fighting? ZAFT and the PLANTs? The Earth Forces? Everything had become so complicated now. "Were you able to reach your contacts in the PLANTs?" she asked, hoping he could shed some light on things.

"Yes and no. I got in touch with the middlemen that pass the messages between us, but they were unable to reach my contacts. So I don't know what's happening in the PLANTs since Alaska."

"Captain!" Chandra said. "We're being contacted by the Orb Military HQ."

"Open a channel."

General Dante's face appeared on the main screen. "ZAFT has launched an attack on Panama." he announced.

Everyone was stunned by this. "What? So soon? They can't possibly have enough strength after JOSH-A to launch such an attack." Murrue said.

"Don't underestimate them," John said. "They wouldn't attack unless they had a means to win the battle. There's a good possibility that Panama will fall."

"A ZAFT weapon that hasn't been used before?" Mu asked.

"Likely. Though I don't now what it could be. If it was a new mass production mobile suit, they would have used it at JOSH-A, so it couldn't be that. As to other weapons, I know that they were working an EMP weapon early in the war but they took time to deploy on the battlefield and it could only be used once, maybe twice, before the Earth Forces would upgrade their EMP shielding. The military deemed it unfeasible as a weapon to turn the tide of the war and, as far as I know, scrapped the project. But they could have reopened the project after I've left or simply used what they created before the project for this one battle," John explained. "Of course, they could have some other new weapon as well. So the question is, if they do loose Panama, what will the Earth Forces do after that? Especially with their new attitude after Alaska."

* * *

ZAFT Fleet

"Sir. The landing sites have been secured."

Admiral Darlian nodded. "Then launch the Gungnirs!" he ordered. "It's time to finish this."

The bottoms of the modified Laurasia class warships opened. Five large pods were deployed from the ships heading for Panama

* * *

Port Panama

Diana fired at the advancing tanks. They were no match for her mobile suit. It was pitifully easy. There was just no point to it. Until the day the Earth Forces could field armies of mobile suits on the battlefield, they never stood a chance against them.

Diana looked up in time to see five pods descending on the battlefield. The Gungnirs had arrived, which means the battle would end soon. Suddenly, a beam struck a nearby GINN, destroying it. A blue and white mobile suit appeared, armed with a beam rifle and red shield.

"What the... Is that the Strike?!" a GINN pilot asked.

"No. It's different mobile suit," Diana said firing at the mobile suit.

Beams from the CGUE's beam rifle tore through the machine's chest destroying it, but more Strike Daggers appeared. "You won't have things so easy from now on," one Strike Dagger pilot said.

"All you Coordinators are just a little too cocky," another pilot added. "I think it's time to take you down a peg."

"At last. Opponents worth fighting. No more pitiful mobile armors, tanks and fighters," Diana said with a smirk on her lips. "Attention all forces! Incoming Earth Forces mobile suits!"

"Well, I'll be damned," Ajay said over the radio. Though to Diana, it sounded more like "It's about damn time!" than anything else. "Mass production Earth Force's mobile suits. I thought this was gonna be a dull mission."

"Cut the chatter," Diana said as she fired upon the advancing Strike Daggers.

Her beams tore through three mobile suits as other ZAFT mobile suits took another four machines. The Strike Daggers fired back, destroying two DINNs and a GINN while Diana sidestepped several shots and threw her shield at a Dagger. Her shield hit its mark cutting into a Strike Dagger's chest.

"Gah! Dammit! Sir! There's too many of them!" A GINN pilot said as he struggled to stay alive. "We have to fall back!"

"No!" Diana said drawing her sword with CGUE's free hand. "We have to have to drive them back so the Gungnirs can be deployed and fired! No retreat!"

Diana raced forward. Nearby members of the 11th Fleet charged forward with her while the rest of the ZAFT forces fired at the Daggers from the rear. Diana and her men fired as they headed for the enemy lines. The Strike Daggers were completely caught off guard by the charge. They had expected the ZAFT forces to be shocked by the appearance of their mobile suits and, combined with their superior numbers, would have enabled them to push the enemies back. Instead, they found themselves being charged by a group of ZAFT soldiers that weren't phased in the slightest by their ambush. They fired at the modified mobile suits, but with their thrusters, they were able to sidestep the worst of it. One of the GINN High Maneuver Types lost it's left arm but that didn't slow it down much.

The 11th Fleet reached the Daggers. Diana sliced one Dagger in two as she fired at another. Hilda and her team smashed through a group of Strike Daggers. The red head impaled one Dagger with her sword. Mars blew away two with grenade launcher while Herbert gunned down a fourth machine. More Strike Daggers fell. The ZAFT soldiers became reinvigorated at the sight of the 11th Fleet tearing through the Strike Daggers. "Come on boys!" a GINN pilot shouted. "We can't let the Black Hawk's Fighters have all the fun!"

The rest of the nearby ZAFT forces pushed forward, driving into the Earth Forces' line. "Dammit! We have to regroup! Fall back!" an Earth Forces Captain shouted.

The Strike Daggers fled, firing as they did. But they did little against the ZAFT forces. "This is Commander Kessel," Diana said over the radio. "We've secured Site Three but I don't know for how long. These new Earth Forces mobile suits are a lot tougher than I first though. I strongly recommend that the teams protecting the Gungnirs are reinforced as soon as possible. Or we may end up losing them."

* * *

Elsewhere, more Strike Daggers appeared across the battlefield engaging the ZAFT mobile suits. Many of those ZAFT pilots were caught off guard by the Earth Fores' mobile suits. They were not use to fighting against enemy mobile suits. They were use to fighting inferior tanks, fighters and mobile armors. Added to this, the Strike Daggers were technologically superior to the GINNs and other ZAFT machines. Many GINNs and other ZAFT mobile suits were quickly torn apart by the Strike Daggers but not all of the ZAFT pilots were being overwhelmed by the new machines.

A beam tore through the cockpit of GINN. The mobile suit exploded. The Strike Dagger turned, searching for a new target when a DINN swooped down firing it's rifle and shotgun. The Strike Dagger tried to rise it's rifle in time, but the rifle rounds tore through the beam rifle, destroying it as the shotgun blew it's head off. The mobile suit collapsed. Two nearby Strike Daggers fired at DINN as it rose up back into the air. "Whoa..." Saya said as she dodged the beams. "These Earth Forces machines are tough."

She fired off a barrage of missiles at one Strike Dagger. The missile struck it's upper body, destroying the entire torso of the machine. The other Dagger fired and Saya started to dodge but she wasn't fast enough this time. A beam tore off a chunk of her left wing. Saya swore as she struggled to keep her DINN in the air. The DINN roughly landed on the ground. The Strike Dagger aimed the DINN's back. "Bye bye Coordinator," the Dagger pilot said.

Suddenly, a beam saber impaled the cockpit of the mobile suit. The Duel pulled it's saber out and the Strike Dagger collapsed like a ragdoll and exploded a moment later. "You alright?" Yzak asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Saya said and repeated, "but these new Earth Forces mobile suits are tough."

"Shame their pilots aren't as tough," Yzak added. "Come on. The mission isn't over yet."

* * *

A Strike Dagger impaled a GINN with its beam saber. The pilot withdrew the saber and kicked the GINN down before it exploded. Suddenly, a blade descended slicing the Dagger in two down the center. Ajay smirked as the machine exploded. "Even with fancy, new mobile suits, you guys still ain't good enough."

There was a burst of gunfire, followed by an explosion behind him. "You're getting sloppy," Lucius said as he approached his comrade. "The mobile suit was about to shoot you from behind."

"Nah. I already knew he was there. Just as I knew you were in the prefect position to ambush him," Ajay nonchalantly replied.

"Don't be so cocky," Lucius said. "That arrogance will get you killed one day."

"Bah! Come on. Loosen up a little."

* * *

A GINN loaded the final EMP caster into the Gungnir. "Right. Caster 12 is primed," the pilot said. "Now to-"

Suddenly, the last GINN covering him exploded. The pilot swore. He had to activate the Gungnir now. The GINN moved towards the Gungnir's control console. The GINN's fingers were inches from the console when a beam hit the GINN destroying it. A trio of Strike Daggers approached the Gungnir. "Now. What the hell is this?" one pilot asked.

"Probably some new weapon the Coordinators cooked up. We better destroy it to be on the-"

A high velocity round tore the cockpit of the third Dagger. The machine fell to it's knees and then exploded. A blood red GINN, armed with a railgun, appeared. "Pathetic. Your machines are superior, but as always, your pilots are inferior," Zane said.

"Inferior! I'll show you inferior, Patchworker!" one pilot shouted as he drew his beam saber and charged.

"Idiot," Zane said as he squeezed the trigger.

A round tore through the mobile suit's right shoulder, severing it. Three more rounds tore through the Strike Dagger's torso tearing it apart. "You bastard!" the remaining pilot shouted as he fired off his rifle.

Zane was faster as he sidestepped the shot and fired back. The round hit the machine's chest removing the last threat to the Gungnir. Zane walked up to the Gungnir's console noticing it was still waiting for activation. "Now this won't do," he said as he pushed the activation button. "There. Now everything is back to the way it was. I hope you enjoy our present, Naturals."

With the final Gungnir activated, the count down on all the Gungnirs started.

_30..._

_ 20..._

_ 10..._

_ 5...4...3...2...1...0_

The Gungnirs fired each releasing a wave of energy. The waves spread out, consuming the entire area. The ZAFT mobile suits were unaffected but all of the Earth Alliance machinery wasn't. The EMP waves fried the circuitry of all of their machines and computers. From tanks and gun emplacements to Strike Daggers to the Panama Base itself. The Mass Driver overloaded, sending a massive surge through the track, tearing the entire thing apart.

* * *

"What the?! My machine! It won't move!" the Strike Dagger pilot said as he frantically tried to get his machine to work.

Diana pushed the mobile suit down and pried open the cockpit hatch. The pilot stepped out with his hands raised. Other nearby members of the 11th Fleet did the sameby rRounding up a group of Earth Alliance soldiers. But...

"Aw...What's the matter? Is your toy broken?" a ZAFT pilot said as pushed a Strike Dagger down and fired at the cockpit, laughing as he murdered the defenseless pilot.

"Stand down dammit!!" Diana shouted. "They're defenseless!"

"Who the hell cares about a bunch of disgusting Naturals?!" the pilot said, aiming at the gathered group of soldiers.

A shot rang out. The GINN's head exploded. "What the hell?! Why are you firing at me?!"

"I will not allow the senseless execution of defenseless soldiers," Diana said. "Stand down or I'll put you down."

The pilot wisely dropped his rifle. "Attention all ZAFT forces. This is Commander Kessel. The execution of surrendering Earth Forces soldiers will not be tolerated. Anyone who shoots a surrendering soldier will be punished severely."

"Who the hell do think you are, Natural Lover?!"

"Yeah! They deserve to this for JOSH-A!!"

"Let's kill'em all!!"

Cheers filled the comm. Most of the ZAFT soldiers were out for blood. An eye for an eye. A massacre for a massacre.

"Very well then. All members of the 11th Fleet and any other willing ZAFT soldiers, I order you to stop the slaughtering of the surrendered soldiers wherever you can. The use of lethal force has been approved but try to refrain from killing, if possible. I will take full responsibility for what happens here."

Across the battle, groups of mobile suits from the 11th Fleet gathered around captured EA soldiers. Many ZAFT soldiers wisely chose to avoid these groups, more out of fear of the 11th Fleet than anything else. A small few of like minded pilots joined them in defending the captured soldiers but not all did as those two groups did...

* * *

"Out of the way!" the first of a pair of GINN pilots shouted.

"Sorry. No can do." Ajay drawled.

"Why the hell are you bothering to protect these dogs?!" another pilot shouted. "Look at what they did at Alaska! They don't even give a damn about their own forces!"

"I got my orders pal. Just back away before things get messy." he said.

"Filthy Natural Lover! Then you deserve to die as well!!" the first shouted as they raised their rifles.

But Ajay was faster. Drawing his elbow blades, he sliced through the rifles cutting them in two.

"Gah!"

"What?! Dammit! You'll pay for this Natural Lover!"

"Don't you two ever shut up?" Ajay said as he sliced through the GINNs' heads. "There. They anything else, and I'll have to kill ya both."

* * *

"Julie was at Alaska! This is for her!" a GINN pilot said as he aimed at a surrendering tank crew.

Suddenly, a sword sliced through his arm. "That's enough." Hilda said raising her sword to strike again if necessary. "They're surrendering. ZAFT soldiers don't fire on surrendering soldiers."

"But they-"

"No buts or I take your head." Hilda said. "We're ZAFT soldiers. We're better than them. We don't stoop to their level."

* * *

"Out of the way, woman," a ZAFT pilot in a DINN said.

Lisa DeCosta and her all female team stood in front of an Earth Forces Aid Station bunker. They were not impressed by this pig and his buddies. The group of DINNs and GINNs had come here to take out the Aid Station and everyone inside, something none of them were willing to allow. "No," Lisa said. "This is an Aid Station. There's nothing but injured people here. Back off or you and your buddies will need it in a moment."

"You think that we'll be beaten by a bunch of women?! Ha! There's no way you're better than us!"

"Yeah!" another pilot shouted.

"Get out of the way, girlie! Before we get angry and get rid of you too!"

Lisa fired off some rounds at that particular pilot's GINN shooting off it's head. "Call me that again, I dare you," the Commander of the Valkyire's mobile suits challenged.

"Damn bitch!" the lead pilot shouted. "Kill them all!"

Both groups of ZAFT mobile suits fired. A GINN armed with Canus missile launchers fired but to the pilot's shock, one of the GINN High Maneuver Types fired and hit one of his missile just as he squeezed the trigger, detonating the missile and taking out the GINN and two other nearby mobile suits. A GINN with a sword, charged Lisa but she was faster. She drove her GINN's free hand through the other GINN's head. The GINN stopped and stumbled back a step. Before he could do anything else, Lisa grabbed the GINN and spun it around. She stole the rifle holstered on the back of its waist and kicked the mobile suit to the ground. She fired both rifles. Rounds tore through the GINNs and DINNs, destroying weapons and tearing off limbs. It wasn't long until there was only one DINN left while all of the High Maneuver Types were still standing. "Damn you, bitch..." the leader of the group angrily said. "How...How could defeat all of us without losing single machine?!"

Lisa smirked. "There's a reason why my machine and I are called Lady Luck," she said. "Ever since this war started, there hasn't been a single fatality among my team. And my teammates have survived crashes that should have been fatal. They believe me to be the embodiment of luck protecting them from harm. Kind of foolish if you think about it, but if they wish to rationalize it like this, it's fine with me. Of course, I believe that it's the opposite. I don't bring them good luck but rather, I bring our opponents bad luck."

"Quit screwing around with me!!!" the enraged pilot shouted, raising his rifle and shotgun. "I refuse to be beaten by a bunch of women!!"

Lisa and her entire team fired. The sheer number of rounds tore through the DINN's head and limbs. Shredding them and tossing the DINN's torso back.

"Sarah, secure the fallen weapons. Maria, Linda, check the survivors. Take the wounded to the Aid Station and keep the rest in a group away from there. Everyone else, stay on alert."

"Sir!" the women said before carrying out her orders.

* * *

But even then, there just wasn't enough of them to save many of the Earth Alliance soldiers. For every one they saved, ten more were mercilessly gunned down. Medics and wounded soldiers leaving a bunker were mowed down by a pair of GINNs. Immobile Strike Daggers were used for target practice for ZAFT mobile suits. Their pilots still inside. Lifeless naval vessels were sunk by ZnOs and GOOhNs whose pilots would then crush the fleeing lifeboats with their suits arms. A barrage of missiles from the ZAFT sub carriers rained down upon the base. Without its anti-missile turrets, there was nothing to stop the missiles from hitting their targets. Destruction rained down upon the Port Panama Base. Buildings and hanger were hit and leveled. Not even the underground base command center was spared. Several missiles struck the building over top of the command center, causing the ceiling to collapse, crushing the command center and everything within it.

Saya watched the massacre in horror. There were rules to war. You weren't suppose to shoot surrendering soldiers, especially if they were unable to defend themselves. They had even been ordered not to kill them by Commander Kessel, but they continued their merciless slaughtering of Earth Forces soldiers. Even some of her own teammates had gotten involved in the killing. It just wasn't right. She didn't join the military to kill defenseless people. She joined to protect her family and the PLANTs. "Sir, are we just going to let them do this?" she asked, hoping that Yzak would do something about this nightmare unfolding before them.

Yzak shrugged. "Shooting targets that can't fight back doesn't interest me but I'm not about to pick a fight with our own forces over saving some Naturals," he said, turning away from the slaughter. "Come on. We're heading back."

Saya reluctantly turned and followed after him leaving the scenes of carnage behind her.

* * *

Zane walked through the remains of the Panama Base watching as ZAFT soldiers mercilessly gun down the defenseless Earth Forces soldiers. Zane himself hadn't joined in the slaughter. There was no need to. The angry and vengeful ZAFT soldiers were more than willing to show the true nature of humanity. Though there had been those that had resisted. The 11th Fleet. They were becoming more and more of an irritation. Of course, with Zala now the undisputed leader of ZAFT, they wouldn't be a problem for much longer. Especially after this. They would either be brought to heel or dealt with, one way or another. Zane smirked as a GINN gunned down a group of soldiers trying desperately to escape with their lives. Another GINN appeared crushing a number of fleeing soldiers under it's foot.

"Ha! They're like little rats running from the exterminators," one of the pilots said.

"Of course. The Naturals are nothing but vermin. And it's our job to exterminate them," Zane said nonchalantly. "Go. Wipe them all out. They deserve nothing less."

The pilots cheered and resumed exterminating the Naturals as tried to escape with their lives.

* * *

I didn't do the scene with Athrun and Lacus because I'm gonna do that in the next chapter, alongside the build up to the Battle of Orb. So don't worry. I didn't forget about that scene. Nor have I forgotten about Dearka and the others in the brig. Again, they get some scenes in the next chapter. I just wanted to get the immediate aftermath of Alaska, the Druggies' debut and Panama done in these two chapters.


	24. Phase Twenty Three: Decisive Fire

Finally. I'm done this chapter. Part of the delay was because I had a lot of recent schoolwork and I recently came down with a nasty cold that sapped my strength to write. And the other being that I kept on changing parts of it chapter a lot. But it's done now.

**Phase Twenty-Three: Decisive Fire**

Aprilius One

Athrun watched as crews worked on getting the ZGMF-X09A Justice ready. He could see the side of the nuclear reactor. It's red and yellow warning sign clear for all to see. Even seeing it with his own eyes, Athrun still couldn't believe it. A machine powered by nuclear energy. The PLANTs had all agreed to abandon nuclear technology, because of the danger it represented. Yet here they were working on a mobile suit powered by a nuclear reactor. His father's words still echoed in his mind.

"_If we want to win this war, then we'll need that power."_

But just how would they use nuclear power to win the war? With just two mobile suits? That didn't seem possible, regardless of how powerful these machines are. Then what was his father referring to?

"It's so sad. Nicol had always loved her songs so very much." Yuri Amalfi said, distracting Athrun from his thoughts.

Athrun hadn't told him that Nicol might still be alive. Commander Creuset had advised him not to tell Nicol's parents that he might still be alive, because if he was wrong, then it would only get their hopes up before shattering it. And they'd end up reliving the same pain all over again. So Athrun had decided to keep quiet about it "I'm very sorry about what happened to Nicol." was all that Athrun could say.

Yuri nodded. "I know. It's alright." he said, his tone tired and weary. "I'm sorry too. I understand why it happened. This is a war after all. And you did avenge him."

A fresh wave of guilt hit Athrun as memories of Kira and the Strike's destruction reemerged from the back of his mind. The guilt and sorrow was as fresh today as it was the day he killed Kira.

"But when there are young people like you and Nicol out there fighting on the battlefield, sacrificing yourself for all of us, I can't fathom how someone could betray us. Betray you like that. That's what angers me more than anything else. We've already sacrificed too much!" Yuri said, his face a mixture of grief and anger. And that why we decided to equip the new models with N-Jammer Cancelers."

Athrun's thoughts turned to Lacus. His mind was still plagued with questions and doubts about her. Why did she betray ZAFT? Why give a machine equipped with a Neutron Jammer Canceler to a spy? The Lacus he knew, wouldn't do such a thing. But he had seem the footage. It was her. There was no question about it. Then why had she done such a thing?

"Should this technology fall into the hands of the Earth Forces, they'd be more than willing to use nuclear weapons again. We must prevent that from happening, at costs!" Yuri turned to Athrun. "I'm counting on you Athrun."

Athrun's gaze was fixed squarely on the Justice. He wasn't going to allow another Bloody Valentine to happen. Even if he had to wipe out entire base to prevent the N-Jammer Canceler from being used to bring back nuclear warheads into the war.

* * *

Clyne Residence

A Few Hours Later

Athrun wandered through the backyard of Clyne mansion. The place looked like a tornado had torn through the area. The soldiers and investigators not caring about the house and it's yard in their search for Lacus and her father. He had come here, hoping for answers. But it didn't look like he was going to find any.

Athrun remembered all the times he had visited Lacus here. During happier times. Now those memories seemed old and faded, while memories of the Bloody Valentine, the destruction of the Blitz and his near-suicidal attack that destroyed the Strike and Kira, stayed as crystal clear as the day they happened.

Suddenly, Athrun heard the sounds of movement behind him. He spun around, reaching for the sidearm in his coat. But he stopped the second he saw what it was. The pink Haro. The very first Haro he gave to Lacus. She loved her Haro, especially the first one. And she wouldn't have forgotten about it. She would have taken it with her. "Haro!" it shouted as it bounced around.

Athrun reached out for it, but Haro bounced away from him, forcing to him chase after it. "Haro! Come back!" Athrun called out as he ran.

"I don't wanna!" Haro chirped as it bounced away, heading for the flower arch.

It was here that Athrun finally caught the pink machine. As it continued to chirp and buzz, Athrun looked around at the arch. The flowers that had once covered the arch, had been torn down. Leaving a white skeletal frame in it's place. He remembered the white roses that grew in the arch. Lacus had told once that they were planted so she'd always remember where she first sang in public.

Then something clicked in the back of mind. What if Lacus hadn't forgotten the Haro? What if she had left it behind for him to find? That means that she would have left it behind with a message for him or her location. At that moment, the final piece snapped into place. Haro had led him to the flower arch. The only place where the white roses had been planted.

Athrun knew where she was. He took off, still holding Haro. He was going to get answers from her one way or the other.

* * *

White Symphony Theater

An Hour Later

Athrun parked his car and stepped out into the rain. He glanced at the Theater's sign. 'White Symphony' was written on the sign with a pair of white roses. The theater had been closed months ago and was slated for demolition. But Lacus had been leading a campaign for the theater to be restored, halting the plans for demolishing it for the time being. In the meantime, it was abandoned. There were no shows there. Nor any reason for anyone to be there. The prefect place to hide.

Athrun entered the theater. The whole building was in a terrible state of disrepair. Old posters from the theater's last performance, a concert by Lacus, were still on the walls. Debris littered the floor. A layer of dust rested on the floor and walls. He wondered if it was sit structurally safe. Regardless of whether it was safe or not, he continued further into the theater, pulling out his gun as walked. He wasn't sure what he was walking into, but he was going to be prepared for whatever he encountered.

Then he heard something. A voice singing. He couldn't make out the song or the singer's voice that well. But it was female and it was coming from the auditorium. Athrun entered the auditorium and there, sitting on the stage and singing, surrounded by debris, was Lacus.

He started walking towards the stage as Lacus continued to sing, seemingly unaware of his arrival. Athrun found himself looking back at everything that had happened since Heliopolis. Discovering Kira in cockpit of the Strike. Miguel's death at Kira's hands. The destruction of Heliopolis. The battle in the Debris Belt. The Raven's pilot returning Lacus to him. The battles with Kira and the rest of the legged ship's pilots. The destruction of the Blitz and the loss of Nicol. His grueling battle with Kira and Kira's death. But most of all, Cagalli's words to him after that battle.

"_Someone's killed for killing another! Then that guy is killed for killing him! How is that twisted thinking ever going to bring peace?!!"_

Athrun wished that none of this would have happened. His mother gone in the Bloody Valentine. Kira, and possibly Nicol, dead as well. Saul and Dearka missing, presumed dead. Lacus, a traitor and a criminal. Everything just seemed to be falling apart.

"No problem! No problem! Lacus!!" Haro shouted, bring Athrun out of his thoughts and ending Lacus's singing.

Haro then jumped out of Athrun's hand, bouncing off the ground towards Lacus. Lacus caught it in her hands and smiled. "Why hello there Mr. Pink." Lacus said, turning to Athrun. "I was certain that you'd be the one to find him and bring him here.

Athrun climbed onto the stage. He needed answers. "Explain yourself Lacus. What have you done?"

"I'm sure you you've heard all about. That's why you've come here, isn't it?" Lacus replied, her smile still on her face.

Athrun felt himself getting angry. He wanted answers! "Is what they're saying about you true, Lacus? Did you really give provide assistance to an enemy spy? Answer me!"

"I did not help a spy." She calmly answered. "I simply provided Kira with a newer, better sword. Because I felt that he had need of it now."

Athrun's eye widened in shock. That was impossible! Kira was dead. He killed Kira himself. She was using Kira to trick him! "You're lying!" he shouted, pointing the gun at her. "Kira's dead! I...I..."

"Killed him? I assure that he's still very much alive."

"That's impossible! I saw it with my own eyes! There's no way he could have survived! What kind of trick is this, Lacus?!"

Lacus shook her head. "No. It's no trick. Reverend Malchio found Kira unconscious and brought him to me. Then Kira told me about what between the two of you. Don't you believe me? Do you even believe what you see with your own eyes? Haven't you seen how things have changed? On the battlefield, or even here now that you've returned?"

Athrun couldn't deny that things had changed. The N-Jammer Cancelers and the PLANTs using nuclear power were just the latest changes he had seen going through ZAFT. Changes that Athrun had to admit, he didn't feel with.

"What is that you're fighting for? Is it because of that medal you received? Or your father's orders?" Lacus asked, her tone and demeanor completely changing, becoming serious. "Because if that is so, then you'll likely find yourself fighting Kira as an enemy again. And I as well."

"Lacus…"

Lacus stood up and walked towards him. "And if you see me as an enemy, then you might as well shoot me now, Athrun Zala of ZAFT!"

Athrun knew he couldn't just shoot her. This was the girl that he had been arranged to marry. He lowered his weapon completely and hung his shoulders. How had this whole mess come to pass?

Suddenly, a group of armed men in black suits entered the auditorium. They're guns trained on Lacus. Athrun pulled Lacus behind him and pointed his own gun at them, unsure of what they here for. "You have our thanks, Athrun Zala." the leader of the group said as he approached them.

"What's going on here?" Athrun demanded.

"Naturally, her fiancée would know her best and where best to find her. You've saved us a great deal of time." the man replied. "Now please step away from her. She's a fugitive accused of treason. We've been authorized to use lethal force if necessary. Are sure you want to protect her?"

Athrun was stunned. Lethal force? That couldn't be right. His father wouldn't order such an extreme measure. Would he? "Those orders can't be right." Athrun said, his gun still pointed at the men.

At that very moment, a shot rang out. Instinctively, Athrun pulled Lacus behind a large piece of debris. One of the suits fell to the ground. More shots rang out. A number of the men in suits were gunned by their unseen attackers. They fired back, but their attackers were hidden in the shadows of the auditorium. Those on the stage however, turned their attention to Athrun and Lacus, pinning them behind the ruins. Gunfire opened up on the stage, killing the men on the stage and finishing the last of them off. Armed ZAFT soldiers entered the auditorium, checking to make sure the first group of armed men were dead. A pair of armed men stepped onto the stage. The first was a young man in a green ZAFT uniform with maroon hair. The second was older with black hair and wearing a suit. Athrun instantly recognized him. He was Ian Kessel, Saul's father and the only Council member that supported Siegel Clyne that wasn't in custody.

"It's all clear." Ian said. "You can come out now."

Lacus walked out from the debris. "Thank you Mr. Kessel." she said with a smile. "Did Reverend Malchio's shuttle manage to take off?"

"Yes." the younger, maroon haired man answered. "He's on his way to Earth now."

"More will come." Ian added. "It'd be wise for us to leave as quickly as possible."

Lacus nodded. "I understand." She turned to Athrun. "Goodbye Athrun. And thank you again for bringing Mr. Pink back to me. You'll find Kira on Earth. I suggest you go there and have a talk with him. He is after all, your friend."

And with that, Lacus, Ian and the soldiers left. Where they were going, Athrun didn't know. But he did know where he was going. The technicians had told him that the Justice would be ready for him in a few days. And once it was ready, he'd head to Earth. To see Kira with his own eyes.

* * *

Atlantic Federation High Command

The Pentagon

In a secret room, underneath the Pentagon, a group of men were arguing. But these were not ordinary men. They were the ones who ran the Atlantic Federation. And now because of JOSH-A, the Earth Alliance as well.

"This is humiliating! Our success at JOSH-A is virtually worthless now that we've lost Panama!" an enraged Secretary Raynes shouted.

JOSH-A had been a major success for them. Greatly weakening ZAFT, as well as the Eurasian Federation, enabling them to take control of the Alliance as a whole. But with the lost of Panama, things were in jeopardy of turning against them.

"Our Lunar bases will exhaust their stores very quickly with the supply route from Panama cut off!" Foreign Minster Wade said, his tone just as angry. "How are suppose to launch a counteroffensive with this situation?!"

"We're accelerating our plan to recapture Victoria." Defense Minster Keegan answered, trying calm the worried and angry Heads of the Atlantic Federation. "But it's not going to be easy to take their Mass Driver undamaged."

The wary President of the Atlantic Federation let out a sigh. Just when they had completely turned the war around in their favor, ZAFT had struck back. Reversing things and returning the disadvantage to the Alliance. "And what about Orb? What's the latest news on them?" President Griffin asked.

"We've repeatedly asked for their assistance. But that stubborn fool Uzumi Nara Athha refuses to see things our way." Wade replied, disgust in his tone for the neutral nation and it's esteemed leader.

Worse news for them. Orb's Mass Driver was the only one not under the control of ZAFT. They had hoped that they could reason with Orb and bring them into the fold. But their damn belief of neutrality was stopping that from happening.

Virtually unnoticed and ignored by the men in the room, was the sound of fingers tapping on the table. "Oh really? Is it because they're...neutral?" Azrael drawled as his fingers repeatedly tapped the table. "That's just not right, now is it? Not when all the others risking their lives, fighting against...Mankind's enemy."

"Azrael, I wish you won't phrase it in such an extreme manner. We are not Blue Cosmos." Griffin said.

Griffin didn't particularly care for Azrael. He was a bit too extreme for his liking. But the man was the Director of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate, the main arms manufacture for the Atlantic Federation. As a result, he wielded a great deal of power with the Federation.

Azrael stopped tapping his fingers, making an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. No offense was intended. But I simply can not understand why you people continue to tolerate a nation like that. One that hides behind such flimsy excuses. I think we've reached a point in this conflict where being neutral is a luxury."

"But the Orb Union is a completely independent sovereign nation. We have to acknowledge that." the President replied.

"Yes. But Orb is a nation of Earth, isn't it? That means it should be obligated to cooperate with the Alliance. That only seems fair, now doesn't it?" Azrael commented. "If you'd like, I'll be more than happy to lead the negotiations. I'll deal with Orb."

Many of the officials stared at Azrael, unsure of what he was planning. "What do you mean?" the uncertain Foreign Minster asked.

Azrael stood up. "Our priority is to get our hands onto someone's Mass Driver. And right away. Why settle for one when you could have two?"

Many seemed convinced. But not President Griffin. "Well...yes but-"

Azrael cut him off. "You'll be quite busy planning the Victoria Operation. It would be more efficient to divide these responsibilities. And while we're at it, we might even have a chance to test the new toys."

"You're planning on using the new machines?" Minster Keegan asked.

"It all depends on our esteemed counterpart reacts. If the noble Mr. Athha is even half as stubborn as he's rumored to be, then I think we could find ourselves in for a little excitement." Azrael said, a predatory grin appearing on his face.

* * *

Port Panama

Commanders Diana Vessel, Lisa DeCosta, Basque Gideon, Lucius Raveshaw, and Ajay Cortez, walked down the halls of the hastily erected ZAFT base near the ruins of Port Panama's central base. As they walked, they passed many ZAFT officers and soldiers, many of whom glared at them venomously. Glaring at them for what they did. As they passed a pair of ZAFT pilots, one of them said, "Nothing but a bunch of traitors."

He hadn't even bothered to try to keep his voice down. "Hmph. They're worse than those damn, disgusting Naturals." his comrade added.

Both Ajay and Basque stopped. "I'm sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing. But what did you just say?" Ajay asked. "It sounded like you called us a bunch of traitors. But I know that no one would be stupid enough to say it to our faces."

"I said, you're all traitors to ZAFT." the first pilot shot back.

"Well then. Me and King Kong here, have a problem. You see, we can't decide just what to do to a pair of jackasses like you two." Ajay said as Basque, standing behind him, punched his palm as he glared at them. "Should we just beat the crap out of you? Or should we-"

"Ajay. Basque. Enough." Diana called out, not even looking back. "They are not worth our time."

Ajay grumbled. But in the the end, the two of them rejoined the group and they continued on their way.

"Walk away traitors!" the second pilot called out. "The Naturals don't deserve any mercy! The future of Coordinators can only be guaranteed when every Natural is dead! The Black Hawk would be ashamed to see how his Fleet has become weak under your command! His entire command has become weak and pathetic!"

Diana stopped, turned around and walked back to the two pilots. A few moments later, both pilots were on the ground, Diana standing over them. Diana put her foot on the chest of the second pilot. "You can insult me. You can insult the men and women under my command. But you will not insult the memory of the Commander by saying such things, Pilot..." she glanced at the name tag on his uniform before continuing. "Sato. The Commander would not have condoned that massacre. Especially what you two did. Gunning down surrendering, wounded Earth soldiers and doctors. If I ever serve on the same battlefield as you two again and catch you doing such a thing, I'll execute for war crimes myself."

Diana then straightened out her uniform and left with her subordinates. A few minutes later, they reached the doors to the briefing room. Only Diana entered the room. The inquiry that was going to take place was closed to all but those testifying.

Inside the room, Rau Le Creuset and several other officers and various members of the military sat, waiting for the officers in charge of the inquiry to arrive. Diana sat down next to Creuset. "Commander Kessel, it is a pleasure to see you again." the masked snake greeted.

"Be quiet Creuset. I still blame you for what happened." Diana coldly shot back.

"You're blaming me for the massacre? Isn't that a little harsh? As I recall, neither of us were able to obtain any order of the soldiers while they massacred the soldiers of the Earth Forces."

"No. Not that." Diana replied. "I blame you for sending out my younger brother's team after the legged ship with an inexperienced commander that led to his disappearance."

"Hmm...I didn't know you cared." Creuset commented. "You certainly never acted like-"

"Be quiet Creuset, before I rip your forked tongue out."

At that moment, the door opened and a group of ZAFT officers entered. Led by Admiral Thule, Supreme Commander of ZAFT Forces on Earth.

Diana was both pleased and relieved that Thule himself was in charge of the inquiry. The graying Admiral was known as a fair man. And he didn't involve himself in the politics of the Supreme Council, which meant that he was in Zala's camp.

Admiral Thule and the other officers returned the salute. "Commander Kessel. Commander Le Creuset. This inquiry has been called to answer the question of what exactly happened at the end of Operation Odin's Spear. And whether or not, charges should be brought up. Since the two of you were the Commanding Field Officers, our investigation will start with the two of you. Commander Kessel, if you'd give us your testimony first. Start from the beginning."

Diana nodded while Creuset took his seat. "The initial landing and securing of the Gungnir sites went off without much difficulty. Our superior mobile suits easily dealt with their outdated weaponry. However, shortly after the Gungnirs were deployed on the field, new, mass produced mobile suits of the Earth Forces appeared on the battlefield. The mobile suits themselves were superior to our GINNs and other mobile suits. Though in the end, the inexperience of the Earth Forces pilots at mobile suit warfare, gave us an opening to exploit and we drove them back. We then proceeded to push forward, so that we could buy time for the Gungnirs to be set up and fired."

"How combat effective would you describe the new Earth Alliance machines?" an officer asked.

"Very combat effective sir. As I said, they were superior to our GINNs. Their armaments consisted of a beam rifle, beam saber and a shield. Most of our machines didn't stand a chance against that hardware. My personal opinion on the mobile suits are that if we do not race to meet the challenge these new mobile suits represent with new, superior, mass produced mobile suits of our own. Then I fear that our technological advantage. The only advantage we have in this war, will be lost."

Thule nodded. None of them needed to reminded of how the bulk of their victories in the war were solely due to their technological superiority over the Earth Forces. If it wasn't for their mobile suits, ZAFT would have lost within a few months of the war. And even with the mobile suits, there had never been a guarantee that they would win the war. Especially now with the losses from Spitbreak and the deployment of Earth Forces mobile suits. "And what of what happened after the Gungnirs were fired? Why did our own forces end up fighting each other?" the Admiral asked.

"After the Gungnirs were fired and all of the weapons of Panama's defenders were rendered useless, members of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet and myself began rounding up the surrendering soldiers. But one pilot mercilessly murdered a defenseless Earth Alliance soldier. I ordered him to stand down, but he refused. He then tried to gun down the captured soldiers. I fired on the man, destroying his GINN's head and main camera. I again ordered him to stand down. This time, he complied. I then ordered all ZAFT forces to refrain from firing on surrendering Earth Alliance soldiers. Most disobeyed this order and proceeded to kill the defenseless soldiers. I then ordered all who were still willing to listen to a superior officer, to defend the newly captured POWs. I urged them to avoid fatal shots, but if necessary to protect themselves or the prisoners, to shoot to kill. My only regret is that such a situation occurred in the first place."

"You should have let the men extract their revenge for Alaska. After what they did at Alaska, no mercy should have been given to those bastards." one of officer said, his voice filled with contempt for both the Naturals and Commander Kessel.

"I'm sorry _sir_. Sorry for following the rules of war." she shot back. "And sorry for not letting petty hatred and bigotry cloud my judgment. I thought we were military officers, not Patrick Zala's fanatics."

"Watch your tongue, girl. Or you may find yourself regretting-"

"Enough!" Thule interrupted. "Colonel Brunt, I remind you that I will not tolerate anyone threatening a ZAFT soldier. Nor, Commander Kessel, will I tolerate a ZAFT soldier talking down to a superior officer."

Diana bowed her head. "Apologies Admiral."

Brunt scowled. "I apologize as well Admiral." he said halfheartedly.

Thule cleared his throat. "Any further testimony Commander Kessel?"

"Nothing beyond my personal feelings on the massacre that followed the firing of the Gungnirs."

"Very well then. Commander Le Creuset, we will now hear your testimony."

Rau stood up as Diana took her seat. "Yes sir. While Commander Kessel was commanding from the field, I was aboard the Cousteau, commanding and directing the battle as a whole. When the Gungnirs were fired and our own forces begin to fire on the Earth Alliance soldiers. We received Commander Kessel's order to cease attacking the Naturals and I likewise tried to stop it. But the anger from Alaska was far too great for either of us to control. It was truly appalling to see our soldier stoop to that level. But truthfully, I doubt we could have done more than what we did do."

* * *

Several Hours Later

After hearing their testimony, as well as the testimony of a number of ZAFT soldiers and several captured EA officers, Thule dismissed them, informing them that he and the other officers would deliberate over whether or not charges should be brought up on anyone.

When Diana left the room, she found her subordinates, still waiting for her. Lucius was the first to speak. Asking what they were all wondering. "Did they reach a decision sir?"

"They're deliberating. They said they're going to have their decision to tomorrow." Diana explained.

Diana and her subordinates walked past the hastily erected POW camp. It was basically, several rows of tents, surrounded by a chain link fence and patrolled by armed guards. The Earth Alliance personnel within the camp quickly spotted and recognized them as they walked past.

"That's the Commander of the 11th Fleet. She saved my life."

"Yeah. We would have been done for if it wasn't for her."

"Those maniacs would have killed us all if it wasn't for them."

"I heard they're gonna lock her up for fighting to save us."

"What?! No way! Are the Zafties that crazy?!"

"Are you kidding? Half the soldiers here wanna put a bullet in our heads."

Diana didn't blame them for thinking that. After Alaska, things were changing. It was bad enough that Patrick Zala had managed to beat Clyne in the election, making him the new Supreme Council Chairman. But with the loss of so many soldiers during Spitbreak, more and more were following Patrick Zala's insane beliefs. And now because of her actions, the men and women under her command were likely to suffer. One way or another.

Suddenly, one by one, the Earth soldiers started saluting her until almost the entire camp was at attention. Diana stopped and returned the salute. The truth was, she didn't regret her actions in the slightest. Despite whatever punishment it may bring. She would not forsake her honor or the honor of her subordinates.

* * *

ZAFT Supreme Council Chambers

"And if no one has any other matters to bring, then this concludes-"

"Pardon the interruption, Chairman Zala, but there is one matter that you have forgotten about." Yuri Amalfi said, interrupting the Chairman.

Patrick frowned. He had hoped that the members of the National Defense Committee that served on the Council wouldn't bring this matter up. It enraged him that the majority of the Defense Committee had agree to such a thing.

"And what would that be?" Ezalia asked.

"With the start of the mass production of the GuAIZs, the Defense Committee has been deciding who should be given these new machines first." Yuri explained. "Much of the Committee has agree that our best fighting force should be given the new mobile suits as soon as possible. Especially, with the Earth Forces deploying their own mass production mobile suit. A machine that I should remind you, is superior to the backbone of our own military, the GINN. The majority of the Committee voted that the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet should be amongst the first to receive the new GuAIZs. But they wish for the matter to be brought before the Council for final approval."

"But how do we know that Commander Kessel's loyalty is strong? Her father is suspected of being a traitor and a spy, and has completely disappeared." Zala argued.

"Unfortunately Chairman, we have yet to find anything to support such an accusation." Louise Leitner, Head of the Judicial Committee said. "Nor have we found any evidence tying the other arrested Council members to the Clynes' treachery. In fact, we have nothing to even hold them on."

Zala's expression turned into an outright scowl. "Search harder. They've been working with that traitor Clyne. I know it."

"As I said, the investigators have yet to find any solid connections to tie the arrested Council members to the Clynes and what they've done." Louise replied. "We've searched their residences and office. We've been questioning all of the families and close associates. And we haven't found anything to even point to the possibility of them being spies."

"Just keep them detained until we can find the Clynes and get this whole mess straightened out." Patrick said, trying to control is anger. If they were released now and returned to the Council, they would fight to stop GENESIS. Because they were too weak and stupid to understand what needed to be done to ensure the future of the Coordinators. GENESIS must be completed. So it could usher in the Age of the Coordinators.

"We are getting a bit off topic here." Yuri commented. "We're discussing whether or not the 11th Fleet should be given the first of the new GuAIZs. Though the Defense Committee voted in favor of giving them the new GuAIZs, they also felt that due to the sensitive nature of Commander Kessel's family, we should be the ones to make the final decision. Personally, I'm in favor of it. They are our best unit and they deserve the best machines we have."

"I must agree as well." Ezalia said, surprising Patrick. "Regardless of her family, Commander Kessel's unit is one of our best. With the new mobile suits of the Earth Forces clearly superior to our own GINNs, we must start equipping our best combat units with the new machines immediately to counteract this new threat."

Patrick scowled. He had no other choice. "Very well then. Those in favor of giving the first of the GuAIZs to the 11th Autonomous Mobile fleet."

Most of the Council raised their hands in favor. There was no way around it now. If it were up to him, he'd have the entire fleet locked up just for their traitorous actions at Panama. But the majority of the National Defense Committee had decided that they should be rewarded for their skills, ignoring their actions completely. It infuriated Patrick. Ian Kessel had fled before they could arrest him. He couldn't touch his wife, Admiral Sarah Kessel, without indisputable proof that she was a traitor. And now the man's daughter and successor to that infuriating John Alaric was being rewarded for a blatant act of treason! Where was the justice in that?!

Perhaps it was time to have Creuset manipulate the evidence and remove Diana Kessel once and for all and replace her with someone more willing to see their side of the picture.

* * *

Port Panama

The Next Day

"The incident at Panama was regrettable and deeply disturbing. But this board has determined that there was no way for either of you to prevent such situation from occurring or stopping it once started. And Commander Kessel and the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet actions in defending the surrendering soldiers against our own forces, was the only option that could have taken to minimize the lost of life. Therefore, their shall be no disciplinary actions taken against Commanders Le Creuset and Kessel, or the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet." the Admiral declared. "Furthermore, due to the sheer number of soldiers participating in the unauthorized execution of surrendering Earth Alliance soldiers and our heavy losses at JOSH-A, there will be no disciplinary actions taken for this incident."

Diana wasn't surprised. As the Admiral had said, their forces were too depleted and the those that took part in the massacre too many, to punish. They'd have to punish just about every soldier in the field at the time. That was a lot of men and women to punish. To properly punish them, would likely cripple ZAFT fighting strength on Earth. And after JOSH-A, they were barely able to maintain their holdings here on Earth. If the Earth Forces could rapidly mass produce their new mobile suits in large numbers, they would easily overrun the ZAFT bases on Earth. They'd retake the Mass Drivers of Victoria and Kaohsiung relatively quickly. Moving the center stage of the war to space. To ZAFT's front yard. They needed every soldier in their armed forces fighting, if they were to have any chance of winning the war now.

"Though, on a personal note, I must admit that the willingness of our own forces to kill defenseless Earth Alliance soldiers, troubles me greatly. We are soldiers. ZAFT soldiers. We do not engage in such savagery. Even if the Earth Forces themselves do it." Admiral Thule added. "I officially declare this matter closed."

Both Commanders saluted, waiting for the salute to be returned and for them to be dismissed. "Before you go, Commander Kessel. It's been requested by the Defense Committee, that you and the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet are to return to the homeland to receive the first of our new mass production mobile suits." the Admiral said, saluting the pair. "Congratulations Commander. Dismissed."

"Indeed. Congratulations Kessel." Creuset said, offering his hand to her.

Diana stared at him for a moment before reluctantly shaking his hand. She didn't believe a word the man had said the previous day. She then headed for the exit. She had no desire to be near that masked snake any longer than she had to. As with the day before, her subordinates were once again waiting outside for her.

"So what's our punishment?" Ajay asked as she exited the room.

"They're giving us new mobile suits fresh off the assembly line."

"Damn. That means I got to get use to a whole new machine now." Ajay complained. "Couldn't they have just locked us up or something?"

Diana ignored his complaints. "Inform the men that we'll be heading out soon. And that we'll be returning to the homeland to receive our new mobile suits." she ordered. "Lucius, contact Lee and the rest of the Fleet. Tell them that we'll be taking the Kaohsiung Mass Driver to return to space and that I'll contact him with more details once I've secured our means of transportation."

"Sir!" the four officers said before carrying out her orders.

* * *

Onogoro Island

"Are you ready for this?" Chris asked.

"Not really." Kira replied. "You?"

"About the same. But we have to do this." Chris said. "This sure makes all of our previous battles seem like a cakewalk."

Kira nodded. "Yeah."

"Well then. Let's do this."

Chris rang the doorbell. A minute later, the door opened, revealing Tolle's mother. She looked terrible. Her hair was a mess and her clothes weren't much better. Her face was pale with dark bags under her eyes. Though she wasn't crying, there were tear trails running down her face. "Hello Mrs. Koenig." Chris quietly greeted. "May we come in."

She stared at them for a moment, but she didn't quite seem to register them initially. She seemed to be partially in shock. She nodded. "Come in." she said, her voice quiet and tired.

The two teens entered the house and followed her into the living room. Tolle's mother slumped down in chair, her hands griping a picture frame that seen in her hands until this moment. They couldn't see the picture in the frame but there was no doubt that it was of Tolle. Her eyes were lock on the picture, almost as though she was trying to will her son back to life. Both Kira and Chris felt fresh waves of guilt. They both had been there. If only they hadn't been distracted by their own personal battles, one of them could have saved Tolle. But they had failed and one of their friends paid the price for it.

The two of them sat down on the couch across from the chair. "We came by to deliver Tolle's personal affects." Kira said, holding up the bag of Tolle's clothes. "And to apologize for Tolle's death."

She didn't look up from the picture. "Why? Why did he have to go out and fight in this wretched war?" she asked, her voice cracked and on the verge of becoming sobs.

Kira and Chris paused, unsure of what to say. There wasn't anything they could say to make it better. So in the end, Chris spoke. Simply saying the truth of the matter. "Tolle wouldn't have gotten involved in this war if it wasn't for us."

Tolle's mother looked up at him, as did Kira. He continued, his tone bitter and dejected. "All he wanted to do was help us out...He didn't want for us to be the only ones baring the burden of protecting everyone on the ship. He fought because he wanted to help us."

Kira bowed his head in shame. "He died trying to save me from the person I was fighting." Kira added, his tone the same as Chris's and unable to look Tolle's mother in the eyes.

Chris sighed. "We never should have let him-"

"I understand." she quietly said. "You were Tolle's friends. And he wasn't the kind of person to let his friends bare a burden by themselves. I never blamed either of you for Tolle's death. Please, I need to be alone right now."

Both boys stared at the woman. "Please leave." she said again, this time louder as tears started to roll down her eyes.

The teens nodded. "If that's what you want, then we'll leave." Kira replied.

He and Chris stood up and quietly left the house. "Well. All things considering, that went fairly well." Chris commented once they were outside.

"Well? Really?"

"Yeah. I kinda expected that she was going to scream at us after we told her. Maybe even throw something at us." Chris answered. "But you never know how someone is going to react in that situation."

"I suppose you're right. Well, I guess we better be heading back to the Archangel now."

"Nah. You can, but I'm gonna go for a stroll for a while. I need to clear my head." Chris replied, walking away from Kira.

"But Miss Murrue said that we weren't-"

But Chris cut him off. "Don't worry about it. If she gets mad, it'll be on my head, not your's. Besides, I'm not gonna start blabbing that I'm a mobile suit pilot from the Archangel. In fact, most probably don't even know the name of the ship." he said, still walking away.

Kira, seeing no other option, shrugged and headed back to the Archangel.

Chris wanted some time just to think. He hadn't really things since Alaska. When this whole thing started at Heliopolis, everything had been so simple. Protect the ship from ZAFT. Then Zane returned to his life, completely changed. Gone was the pacifist that believed that Naturals and Coordinators could live peacefully together. In his place, was a teen driven by pain, anger and grief. A teen who seemed to hate everyone. He knowingly shot down a civilian shuttle, proclaiming that there was no such thing as innocence in the human race. Chris had no idea what happened to him after the Bloody Valentine, but it couldn't have been good. He honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do about Zane ultimately. Was there anything left of the person he had once been? If he had no other choice, would he be able to kill him?

Then there was Flay. That had been really complicated. Now he admitted that he had been at least physically attracted to her before the destruction of Heliopolis. But then again, just about any guy would be attracted to her. Until he started spending time with her. Every changed after that. When he had first felt truly in love with her, he didn't know. Hell, he could have been in love with her from start but only recently realized it. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. He loved her and she loved him. That was all that mattered.

He wondered where she was right now. Mu had said that he left her in the line for their sub at JOSH-A. The sub had been bound for California. So she could be there. Or she could have been transferred to somewhere else after arriving there. But she was safe. He knew that. Sutherland had said that she would be useful as a propaganda tool than a soldier. Which meant that she wouldn't be anywhere near the fighting. She'd be safe no matter what happened. And she had the good luck too.

Finally, there was the Earth Alliance's recent actions at JOSH-A. Now he didn't blame the Alliance for the Bloody Valentine. That was the work of Blue Cosmos, not the Alliance. And he had to admit, after fighting for the Alliance, he had felt sympathetic for them. Most would think that a Coordinator like him should favor ZAFT. But after seeing the Earth Alliance forces being wiped out time and time again by smaller ZAFT forces, it was hard to feel any sympathy for them. Especially considering that ZAFT was practically blaming the entire Alliance for Junius Seven. Some were even blaming all of the Naturals for it. That didn't sit right with him. It was the same as Blue Cosmos's rhetoric.

But then JOSH-A happened. And everything changed. The Atlantic Federation, which had at first seemed to be a desperate nation within the Earth Alliance trying to protect their people. Now they were like Blue Cosmos. Willing to do anything to ensure their victory over ZAFT and to increase their own power in the Alliance.

He wandered around for about fifteen minutes when he reached Orb's biggest and most crowded shopping district. He slowly moved through the throngs of people when he bumped into a girl. The girl fell down to the ground, the bags she was carrying, spilled their contents all over the place. "Sorry about that." he said, helping the girl get back on her feet.

The girl appeared to no older than thirteen. She had short brown hair and matching brown eyes. "No. It's my fault. I wasn't watching were I was going." she replied as she started to gather up all of the stuff she had bought.

"Here. Let me give you a hand." Chris said, kneeing down to help her pick up her stuff.

A moment later, Chris grabbed the last fallen item, a pink cell phone. He was about to hand it to her when a voice called out, "Mayu!"

Both turned to the source of the voice. A black haired, red eyed teen. A year, maybe two, older than the girl. He appeared to be searching for her. "Shinn! Over here!" the girl shouted, waving a hand in the air.

The boy ran up to them. "Come on Mayu. It's time to go."

"Alright Shinn." She turned to Chris. "Thanks for giving me a hand, Mr..."

Chris smiled. "Christopher Dante. But just call me Chris."

"I'm Mayu Asuka."

"Mayu. We have to go." the boy said in an annoyed tone.

"Alright, alright Shinn. I'm coming."

She started to walk towards her brother. "Wait! You forgot this." Chris said, raising her cell phone up.

Mayu grabbed the phone. "Thanks!" she shouted as she left with her brother.

Chris gave a small wave as she left. A normal life. He had forgotten what life was like without the war. He missed it. As much as he grown to love piloting the Raven, he missed being a normal teenager. But something told him, he would never have a normal life again. At least not as it was before Heliopolis's destruction.

* * *

Earth Alliance Spengler-Class Carrier, the Powell

Outside Orb Territorial Waters

One Week Later

"The neutral nation of Orb. What a detestable nation." Captain Oswald commented, staring out at the Orb mainland. "Bring the fleet to a full stop."

"Sir." the comm officer said before relaying his orders to the entire fleet.

Azrael smiled as the fleet came to stop. Orb hadn't mobilized their forces yet. They knew what was coming and were merely gathering their strength. But it would be pointless in the end. "It's time to give them our ultimatum." the smug director said.

"Do you really think Orb will submit?" Oswald asked.

"Not likely with Uzumi Nara Athha in charge. No. They'll fight. To the bitter, bloody end." Azrael replied, the grin never leaving his face for a second.

Oswald turned to Azrael. "What's the status on those new machines of your's?"

"The mobile suits will be ready for tomorrow. And the doctors have assured me, that the pilots will as well."

The Captain grunted. "I don't like the idea of giving our four new mobile suits to a group of science experiments. They should be given to our aces, not those freaks."

"I need I remind you that because of ZAFT's technological superiority, most of our aces are dead." Azrael said. "Besides, most of our aces couldn't hope to match their abilities."

Azrael was so very pleased with himself. His plans were going off without a hitch. Everything was falling into place. Soon Athha would removed and Orb's Mass Driver, along with Morgenroete and it's technology would be their's. Then all that would be left, would be to deal with the PLANTs and the Coordinator threat once and for all.

* * *

Alright, that's it for now. Next up, the beginning of the battle of Orb. Oh, can anyone spot the Destiny character that appeared in this chapter, beside Shinn and Mayu? Speaking of those two, originally, I wasn't going to have them appear in story. Save perhaps including the deaths of Shinn's family during the battle of Orb. But as I started writing this chapter, I thought 'why not?' and added them in.

One thing I always wondered about SEED is why there was a scene with Athrun speaking to Nicol's father after his death, yet they never had a similar scene with Kira talking Tolle's parents. I found that odd that Tolle was virtually forgotten about after Miri attacked Dearka, while Nicol's memory seemed to linger and showed up a little in Destiny. So I created that little scene with them visiting Tolle's mother. Something that I felt Kira would have done during his second visit to Orb.


	25. Phase Twenty Four: Land of War

Yo everybody. I'm back. First off, I wish to say to all my fans to check out Maileesaeya's story 'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: The Myriad'. It's a rehash of my story with new characters. Maileesaeya used my first couple of chapters as the bulk of the first couple of chapters, but will go in directions different from mine. So if you like mine, check out Maileesaeya's.

"_You guys aren't getting Orb without a fight!" _Elizabeth Dante  
Mobile Suit Serial Number: MBF-MX1 'Athena'  
Unit Type: Prototype limited production general propose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor, Striker Pack Hardpoints  
Fixed Armaments: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, mounted in head, 2x 'Armor Schneider' combat knives, stored in hips\  
Palace Striker Armaments: 2x anti-armor swords, stored on the back, 1x Type 71 beam rifle, 1x 'Guardian' shield weapon system with 50mm beam rifle, mounted on the left arm  
Pilot: Elizabeth Dante  
Color: Dark purple head, torso, shoulders, forearms and shins. White biceps, thighs. Gold trim, head crest spikes and V crest.  
Info: A prototype for a limited production variant of the M1 Astray. Intended to serve as Orb's equivalent to ZAFT's CGUE mobile suit. A superior machine for aces and commanders. Faster and more maneuverable than the Strike and possess the hardpoints for mount Striker Packs. Though it can mount the original Striker Packs, Morgenroete had begun development on a series of Striker Packers specifically for the Athena. But by the time of the Battle of Orb, only two Packs were finished and combat ready. The close-range Palace Striker and the long range Heavy-Arms Striker.

"_Alright. Let's see just what this thing can do!" _John Alaric  
Mobile Suit Serial Number: MBF-XX105 'Farsight II'  
Unit Type: Prototype sniper/stealth mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor, Camo Shift Armor Stealth System, Aile Sniper Striker  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, mounted in head, 1x 60mm long range beam sniper rifle, 2x beam sabers, stored in the hips, 2x 'Armor Schneider' combat knives, stored in forearms, 1x beam pistol, held in left hand, stored on Aile Sniper Striker  
Pilot: John Alaric  
Appearance: Another Strike unit. It's Sniper Aile Pack is almost identical to the normal Aile Striker, save that it lacks the beam sabers. Instead, it holds the beam pistol where the left saber was, while the spot where the right one was is replaced with an improved sensor and targeting unit for the rifle. It's sniper rifle is similar to the sniper rifle of the Astray Blue Frame Second G.  
Color: Black with white trim. Two white strips running down the arms and legs. A white hawk on the right shoulder.  
Info: A variant of the GAT-X105 Strike, designed for sniper/commando operations. The main difference between the two MS, is the Camo Shift Armor Stealth System. The CS system is similar in function to the Mirage Colloid System. But unlike the MC system, this system can be used for as long as there is power for the Phase Shift, but as its name implies, it doesn't provide complete visual invisibility. The system adjusts the color of the Phase Shift to blend in with it's surroundings and makes it invisible to radar and sensors. When the suit is stationary and the system is activated, it's next to impossible to detect unless the enemy is right on top of it. And the defensive power of the Phase Shift Armor System remains active during this time, protecting it. It's an effective system for stealth and sniper units, however, movement does reduce the effectiveness of it as it can't adjust quickly to sudden changes in its surroundings. It's primary weapon is it's powerful beam sniper rifle. But it also comes with a beam pistol for mid range work, a pair beam sabers, stored where the Armor Schneider combat knives were stored in the original Strike, and a pair of Armor Schneider knives stored in the forearms, which can be extended out, functioning as arm blades.

"_Wow. They really weren't kidding around when they said that this was more than just a rebuilt Blitz." _Nicol Amalfi  
Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-XX207 'Neo Blitz'  
Unit Type: Prototype sniper/stealth mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor, Mirage Colloid, 'Junsai' beam defection system  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, mounted in head, 1x 'Trikeros II' shield system, mounted on right arm, featuring: 50mm high-energy beam rifle, beam saber, lancer darts, 'Junsai' beam defection system, 1x 'Tsume' pincer claw  
Pilot: Nicol Amalfi  
Color: Same as the original Blitz  
Info: A mobile suit created from the remains of GAT-X207 Blitz. While the Blitz's salvaged right arm was used as part of Orb's Astray Gold Frame, the rest of it's surviving components were used as the base of a new mobile suit, the Neo Blitz. Using the technology obtained from Heliopolis and the wreckage of the Blitz itself, Morgenroete has improved a number of features of the original Blitz. A more powerful battery as well as a more energy efficient Mirage Colloid system. The Gleipnir rocket anchor was replaced with Tsume pincer claw, which features a small shield and powerful pincer claw. Though the Trikeros II doesn't feature any new or different weapons, it possess the Junsai beam defection system. A system, like the Forbidden's Geschmeidig Panzer system, that's based off of the Mirage Colloid system.  
Author's Notes: Now, before someone complains about possible power problems, I should point out that the Blitz could use the MC system for a rather long period of time. And it's likely that when he used it at Artemis, he likely spent near a fair amount of time waiting between when he first launched and when he attacked. So the MC system doesn't seem to use a large amount of power.

In addition, the Raven, Buster and Surge have received upgrades from Morgenroete. Though the Raven did receive some specific upgrades, including the ability for it to fly in the atmosphere in mobile suit mode. This was due to the fact that Morgenroete was able to study the Raven during the Archangel's first visit and come up with some improvements for it. Most of these upgrades are mostly internal improvements. The biggest being that their old batteries have been replaced with newer and better batteries.

**Phase Twenty-Four: Land of War**

The Archangel's Brig

"So. You think we're ever gonna get out of here?" Saul asked.

Nicol shrugged. "Not sure. Actually, I've lost count of how long we've been in here."

"Same here." Saul replied. "What about you Dearka?"

"Hey don't look at me. I haven't been counting days at all."

The door at the end of the hall opened and a girl in an Earth Forces uniform and pushing a cart, entered. Saul glanced through the bars of his cell at the girl. "Uh oh... Dearka, it's that crazy knife girl." he said. "You better hide before she tries to cut you up again."

Miriallia ignored him as she walked to Dearka's cell. She entered the code and opened the cell. "So, questioning or a prison transfer?" Dearka asked.

"Neither." Miri quietly replied, grabbing Dearka's flightsuit from the cart and tossing it at him. "This ship is going into battle again because the Earth Forces are attacking Orb."

The ZAFT pilots were all surprised by this. Why would the Earth Forces attack a neutral nation like Orb? It didn't make any sense. She left his cell and unlocked Saul's and Nicol's cells, and returned their flightsuits. "The Captain said you're all free to go." she added before leaving.

The three ZAFT Red Coats stepped out of their cells, looked at each other for moment, and then rushed out after Miri. "Wait!" Dearka called out. "What did you mean by that?!"

But the girl didn't stop walking, so they followed after her. "Exactly what told you." Miri said.

Nicol shook his head in disbelief. "But that's crazy! Why would they invade Orb?"

"They want Orb's Mass Driver since they've lost Panama. And Orb has refused to join the Earth Alliance." Miri answered. "The Earth Forces will be attacking soon and the Archangel is staying to fight for Orb. When the fighting starts, things are going to get chaotic. So all of you better get off the island while you can."

"But how are we suppose to get off of Orb?" Saul asked.

"That's not my problem. Take one of the boats evacuating the civilians if you want."

"Hey! What about my Buster?" Dearka asked.

"And my Surge?"

"Those were ours to begin with. Morgenroete has them now." Miri answered.

"Aw man... And I liked that machine too. No way I'm going back to a GINN." Saul complained.

But Dearka ignored him. He reached out and grabbed the girl's arm, stopping her. "Are you going to be fighting as well?"

"I better be. I'm in charge of the Archangel's CIC." Miri shot back as she pulled out of his grip. "And besides, Orb is my homeland."

* * *

Orb Military Headquarters

An Hour Later

General Samuel Dante walked through the corridors of Orb's Military Headquarters, his mind focused on the battle to come. Lord Uzumi had appointed him in charge of Orb's defense. A task that he couldn't and wouldn't fail. Over the last several days, they had planned and prepared for the incoming invasion. Though in the end, he knew they could never hope to beat the Earth Forces' numbers. Truthfully, deep down, everyone knew they couldn't win. But beating the Alliance wasn't what he sought in this battle. What he sought, was to give the Earth Forces a mauling that they would never forget. They may conquer Orb, but every foot they claimed would cost them greatly. As he entered the command center, everyone inside stopped what they were doing and saluted him. Save for the only non-soldier present, Cagalli. "At ease." he said, returning the salute. "What's the status of our forces?"

"All defense forces are in position and awaiting orders sir." an officer answered.

"The civilian evacuation?"

"Approximately forty-four percent of civilian population has been evacuated sir. Another flotilla of ships will be leaving within the hour, with an additional twenty percent of the population. The rest of the population should be evacuated by dusk sir. Should we move a unit to provide cover for them sir?"

Samuel let out a quiet sigh as he leaned on the edge of the massive display table. Dusk was hours away. A third of Orb's population stuck on the island while a battle raged on... That did not sit well with him. "No. They'll be safer if we keep our units away from the civilian docks. Pass the order to our forces to stay away from the evacuation sites unless they come under attack." Samuel grimly replied, moving from the table. "Patch me through to all of Orb's defense forces."

"Yes sir." one of the comm officers said.

He picked up a headset. "This is General Samuel Dante to all Orb Defense Forces. As you know, an Earth Alliance fleet is approaching Orb. Their goal, to force us to submit to them, one way or another. The Orb government has refused to submit to them and they are coming to conquer Orb." Samuel said to the defenders. "I know many of you are wondering why we shouldn't just submit to the Earth Alliance and save ourselves from the approaching storm. But if we sided with the Earth Forces, than it would only be a matter of time before ZAFT attacked us. And if we joined ZAFT, the Earth Forces would attack us. Regardless of what we do, we will be attacked. The only difference is by whom we will be attacked by."

* * *

Kira sat in cockpit of the Freedom as it stood on the Archangel's port catapult as he listened to the broadcast. On the starboard catapult, the Raven stood. Behind them, the Strike, the Farsight II and the Athena stood. All of them were waiting for the order to launch. A part of Kira still found this whole situation a shock. Of all the places that he thought that could become a battlefield, Orb had to be at the bottom of the list. But then, so had Heliopolis

"Hard to believe that a few months ago, we were just students living in Heliopolis. It seems more like a lifetime ago." Chris commented. "Who could have guested that we would have ended up caught in the middle of this whole thing."

"_Instead of submitting, we will declare in one loud voice; NO! We will not submit to those that wish to use us to fight their enemies and their battles! We will not abandon our ideals! We will not attack another nation! Will not allow another nation to attack us! And will not get involved in the conflicts of other nations! These beliefs are what Orb was founded on! To abandon those beliefs is to abandon Orb itself!"_

Kira nodded. "Yeah. I never thought I'd ever pilot a mobile suit. And yet here I am, sitting in the cockpit of a mobile suit."

"The most powerful mobile suit out there." Chris added. "I sure don't envy you. You get shot down and it will pretty much take us all out. So be careful out there. I don't want to end up dead or glowing in the dark."

Kira chuckled at the comment. "Don't worry. I'll be careful out there."

"_The Alliance thinks that they can bully a small nation like us into submission. And that even if we stand up to them, they can crush us beneath their boot heel. They do not know what they have awakened. We shall show them Orb's strength! We shall make them pay dearly for every inch of Orb soil! So much so, that when this battle is over, they won't forget what we did here! They won't forget the mauling they received from the small, neutral nation of Orb!"_

"Alright everyone. This is going to be a long and difficult battle to say the least. Even for us." John sighed before adding. "What I wouldn't give to have my 11th Fleet here."

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind having their help out here either." Mu said. "Though I have have to wonder if they'd really make a difference here."

"Don't underestimate them. There presence on the field would have scared many of the Earth Forces pilots without having to fire off a shot." John replied. "And a panicking enemy is a careless enemy."

"It just means more work for us." Liz said, joining the conservation.

John nodded. "That's true. As I said before, this will be long and difficult. So be careful and stay focused out. And good luck out there."

* * *

"I will not lie to you. We are outnumbered. A hundred to one. Each of you will have to be an army in your own right if Orb is to survive. But never forget that you are all fighting for the safety and future of your families, and the future of Orb itself! May the blessing of Haumea be upon us all as we prepare to wage this terrible battle. For the future of Orb, it's ideals and it's people!!"

Cheers and shouts echoing his own words filled the comm channel. Samuel closed his eyes as he closed the comm line. A lot of people were going to die today. Hopefully, only the soldiers of Orb and the Alliance. But there still many, many civilians fleeing Orb. And as long as they were still on Onogoro, they were in danger. Samuel opened his eyes, his face locked in grim determination. "Have the First Defense Fleet engage the Earth Alliance Fleet at close range." he ordered, knowing that he just sent many of those men and women to their deaths.

But there was no other choice. They had to delay the Alliance Fleet from closing in on Onogoro for as long as possible. If they could force the advancing Earth Forces into a narrow funnel around the First Fleet for a while, they could thin out their numbers before they reached the mainland. And maybe they'd get lucky and manage to take out a carrier or two before they could deploy most of their mobile suit complement.

Samuel turned to one of the comm screens. "Keep the Archangel with the rest of the fleet within the harbor, Captain. It won't be long before the bulk of the Earth Force's fleet breaks through the fleet they're engaging and hit the harbor." he said.

Murrue nodded. "Yes sir."

"Lieutenant La Flaga, Mr. Alaric, Liz, I want you three to spread yourselves out amongst the Astrays and other ground units, providing whatever support you can. Kira, you're the most powerful weapon we have. I need you to stay on the move, shoring up areas that start to buckle under the strain of the Alliance's attack. Chris, stick to the air and provide air support for our forces and target any bombers and-"

"Sir! Incoming transport planes! They're dropping mobile suits!"

"Have all AA guns target the planes. You as well Chris." Samuel ordered. "We need to stop as many of them as possible from dropping their mobile suits."

"Sir! Earth Forces warships and mobile suits are slipping past the First Fleet!"

Samuel turned to the map display table. As expected, while a portion of the Earth Alliance flotilla were engaging the Orb Fleet several miles off Onogoro's shore, warships, carriers and mobile suits were maneuvering around the fleets and heading for the mainland. "The remaining vessels and coastal batteries are to focus on the advancing forces while the Astrays and remaining defenders are to focus on the mobile suits that reach the mainland."

* * *

Earth Alliance Spengler-Class Carrier, the Powell

The four Biological CPUs entered the hanger where their mobile suits and the doctors with their drugs were waiting. Each took their vial and downed the contents. Kevin put on his red and black helmet and entered the Massacre's cockpit, starting up the mobile suit as his 'teammates' did the same.

At that moment, Azrael's face appeared on their main screens. "Say boys..."

Orga looked up at his display screen. "What?"

"Now remember boys, don't destroy Morgenroete or the Mass Driver" Azrael ordered. "Understand?"

"But we can destroy anything else, right?" Shani asked.

Azrael simply nodded.

"Oh yeah!" a pleased Clotho said.

"Time for some fun." Kevin added, gripping the Massacre's controls as a grin spread across his lips.

"Why don't you guys shut up." Orga said as the Powell's mobile suit hold doors opened. The Forbidden and the Massacre launched first, heading for Onogoro. The Raider followed, transforming into it's mobile armor mode. Then the Calamity launched, quickly landing on the Raider. Using it as a flight platform. The four machines streaked towards Onogoro.

Unlike the Strike Daggers, which were maneuvering around the battling naval fleets, the four Biological CPUs tore right through them. The Forbidden's scythe sliced through the bridge of an Orb battleship. The Massacre's beam Gatling guns and head mounted beam cannon tore through another Orb warship, igniting it's forward ammo magazine. The vessel exploded in a great ball of fire.

"Well what do we have here?" Orga said, aiming at the Archangel.

"Incoming mobile suits!" Chandra shouted.

"Evade them!" Murrue ordered.

Orga fired the Calamity's Schlag cannons and Todesblock bazooka at the white battleship. But the Archangel managed to move out of the beams' path. "Figures. You missed." Clotho said, flipping the Raider. "Now get off so I can show you how it's done!"

The Calamity fell off the Raider, landing on, and crushing, the bridge of an Orb battleship. Clotho transformed the Raider back into it's mobile suit mode and landed in front of the Archangel's bridge. He raised the Raider's Mjolnir hammer, to drive it into the bridge. But just before it could hit it, the Freedom slammed into the Raider, knocking it into the sea.

At that very moment, the Forbidden appeared, firing it's railguns at the Freedom. Kira evaded the shots and fired back with his beam rifle. But to his surprise, the Forbidden's Geschmeidig Panzer pack dropped down. The beam harmless bounced off the shields. Shani snickered as the pack returned to it's original position and he lunged forward. Swinging his scythe at the Freedom. Kira managed to pulled the Freedom back just in time, the scythe missing him by a few feet. _'These guys aren't ordinary pilots.'_ Kira thought as he dodged more wild scythe swings. _'Definitely aces. And in new machines. I've got to careful with them.'_

Kira fired again on the Forbidden. But again, Shani managed to deflect them with his Geschmeidig Panzer system and fired off his plasma induction cannon. Kira banked to the right. Only to see the beam curve towards him. Kira cursed as the Freedom shot up, avoiding the beam.

_'A curving beam. A energy deflection system. And this is just one of those four new machines!'_ he thought. _'If the other three are anything like this one, then we're all trouble.'_

* * *

The Raven's railgun fired, tearing through a transport plane, destroying it and it's complement of Strike Daggers. "Another plane down." Chris grimly said as the plane's fiery remains fell to earth.

For every plane he or the Orb defenders shot down, another managed to drop at least half of it's payload. Which meant dozens of Strike Daggers were already on Orb soil. And more were arriving every minute.

He glanced at the Freedom. Kira appeared to be having problems with a strange green mobile suit armed with a scythe. It seemed that every time Kira fired at the green mobile suit, it either dodged the shot or deflected the beams somehow with it's shields. He better help him out. Chris sped off towards the Freedom. Only to come face to face with a mobile suit emerging from the sea, that was virtually identical to his. Both the Raven and the Raider stopped dead in their tracks. "What the hell..." both Chris and Clotho said simultaneously as they stared at the other's mobile suit.

"Damn copycat!" Clotho yelled a moment later. "Who the hell do you think are, copying my mobile suit!"

"Copycat! I'm not the copy! I'm the original!" Chris shouted back. "You're the copy!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

Clotho growled. "Then I'll just kill you and become the original!" he shouted, firing his railguns.

The Raven dodged the Raider's shots and fired back. "That's not how it works! I'll always be the original and you'll always be the copy!" Chris shouted at the Raven's copy.

The two mobile suits continued their deadly dance. Neither able to gain the upper hand over the other. "Just die already!" a frustrated Clotho shouted, firing off the Zorn cannon.

Chris narrowly managed to avoid the beam. "Whoa...A beam cannon in the mobile suit's head. That's new. Clearly, you have more weapons than I do. But which one of us is faster, I wonder?"

Chris transformed the Raven and blew past the Raider. "Come on! Catch me if you can copycat!"

"You bastard! You're terminated!!" Clotho growled as the Radier transformed and chased after the Raven.

Chris smirked as they raced across the skies above Onogoro. The Raider fired off it's machineguns and Zorn cannon at him, but Chris was able dodged the shots. _'That's it. Use up all your power trying to chase after me. Your weapons will be useless if you don't have any power.'_

* * *

"Come on! Lets show these fools the might of the Alliance!" a Strike Dagger lieutenant shouted, leading six other Daggers towards a pair of Astrays and a group of tanks.

However, they didn't get very far when a beam pierced the cockpit of the lieutenant's Dagger. The remaining Daggers abruptly stopped, only to be gunned down by more well aimed shots. The first four were all hit in the chest and exploded. The fifth lost it's head from one beam and was destroyed by the second. A shot narrowly missed the final machine. The second shot severed it's left ankle and it fell to the ground.

Standing on a ridge, over a mile away, the Farsight lowered it's beam sniper rifle. "Damn. I shouldn't have needed more then seven shots. Guess I still haven't completely adjusted to this new rifle." John said, taking aim at more distant targets.

* * *

A Strike Dagger lunged forward, it's beam saber slicing through an Astray's chest. "Ha! These guys aren't so tough!" the Dagger pilot said, laughing as the Astray exploded.

Another Strike Dagger was saber dueling a second Astray when a third Dagger ambushed the Astray. Stabbing it in the back with it's beam saber. The third Dagger pilot nodded his head. "Yeah! These idiots think they can mess with the Earth Alliance and get away with it. But they're-"

Whatever he was going to say, was cut off when a trio of beams tore through the Dagger's body and a split-second later, the mobile suit exploded.

The two remain Daggers turned to their new attacker. Before them, stood the MBF-MX1 Athena, his beam rifle trained on them. "Bastard!" the first pilot shouted as both Daggers charged towards the mobile suit. "You're dead!!"

Liz quickly discarded her rifle, switching it for the heavy swords. Both Dagger pilots smirked. This lone mobile suit didn't stand a change against them. "Normal swords against beam sabers! Don't make me la-"

Suddenly, the Athena rushed towards them, catching them off guard with it's superior speed. Liz struck. Slicing through the waists of both machines as she rushed past them. "GAAAAAAH!!!" one of the Alliance pilots screamed just before his Dagger exploded along with it's teammate.

But Liz didn't have any to celebrate her victory as more and more Strike Daggers appeared, firing their rifles at her. Liz pulled the Athena back, avoiding their shots as she raised her machine's left arm. Revealing it's concealed beam rifle. She fired, shredding the right arm off one machine and taking out two others. But there were too many for her to handle by herself. Still, there wasn't much of a choice here. She sheath her right sword and recovered her beam rifle. "Come on!" she shouted at the advancing Daggers. "You guys aren't getting Orb without a fight!"

At that very moment, beams rained down on the Daggers from afar. Most of the Daggers exploded or found heads and limbs blown off. _'Guess I owe John for that.' _Liz thought as she opened fired on the survivors that were still determined to fight.

* * *

"This is bad." Nicol said as they watched the battle play out before them from the ridge they were standing on. "We have to do something."

"Like what?" Saul asked. "Your Blitz is gone. And the Surge and the Buster are in one of dozens of Orb hangers."

"And this doesn't involve us." Dearka added. "This is between Orb and the Earth Forces."

Suddenly, the Raven, followed by the Raider, soared closely overhead, forcing the three teens to duck as the mobile suits pasted.

"Dearka, Saul, you both can't believe that we should just sit back when all this is happening, can you? This is wrong and you both know it." the green haired pilot exclaimed once the mobile suits passed.

Both pilots hesitated. Nicol was right, but they couldn't do anything, even if they wanted to, without their mobile suits. And if they did get involved there was the possibility that they'd be labeled traitors and deserters by ZAFT. But still...

"Hey!" a female voice called out.

The three of them turned around. A woman, sitting in jeep, had appeared behind them some time while they were talking. "I've been looking all over for you guys. I'm Johanna Dante. You guys wanna help out?"

"I'll help." Nicol said, stepping towards the jeep. He stopped after a couple of steps and turned to Saul and Dearka. "Dearka, Saul, are you guys coming?"

Saul scratched the back of his head. "Jeez...It figures. The first time I actually feel like being a soldier and it's when I'm not fighting for ZAFT. If only my family could see me now..." Saul said, shaking his head. "Ah well. I'm in."

"We may not be fighting for ZAFT, but we'd still be fighting the Earth Forces. So they can't really call us traitors." Dearka added. "I'll fight too."

Johanna smiled. "Good. Get in."

* * *

A squad of Orb Astrays fired on the Earth Alliance's Strike Daggers as they advanced into the city. The Daggers were numerous, but some how, the defenders managed to push them back. Barely. However, things were about to change. A crimson mobile suit suddenly landed before the Orb squadron.

"Captain! What is that?!" a nervous Orb pilot asked.

"Some new Earth Forces machine." the Captain answered. "Destroy it!"

"DIE!!!" Kevin howled, firing his beam Gatling guns at the Astrays.

The barrage mercilessly tore through many of the Astrays before they manage any kind of defense. The surviving Astrays backed away, moving behind buildings and trying to regroup from the assault. But Kevin didn't give them a chance to. The Massacre's chest plate opened as did it's missile pods as well. The remaining Astrays in the area fell quickly fell before this second barrage. Beams tore through buildings and the mobile suits standing behind them. A cluster of missiles impacted a trio of Astrays standing together, destroying them.

Suddenly, the Massacre jumped to the left, barely dodging a beam. Kevin growled as the Farsight's Camo Shift Armor deactivated. "Not bad." John commented. "But that's not going to be good enough."

Kevin roared, firing all of his Gatling guns at the Farsight. John pulled the Farsight into the air, evading the Massacre's shots and fired his rifle. The beam hit the Massacre's left twin Gatling gun. Kevin threw the weapon away just before it exploded. "Damn you!" he shouted, firing back at the Farsight with his remaining Gatling guns.

John sidestepped behind a row of buildings. The guns tore through the building... Only to hit nothing. The Massacre's head turned back and forth, searching for the Farsight. Kevin growled in frustration. "Dammit! Where are you?! Come and fight me coward!"

There was no response.

"Come on! Fight!!"

Again, nothing.

"That's it!! I'm gonna level this whole damn city!!!"

At that moment, the Farsight emerged from some buildings on the Massacre's left. It's rifle gone and in it's place, a beam saber. John raised the saber up as he raced towards the mobile. But before it could strike, the Massacre drew one of it's larger Garm beam sabers with it's free hand and blocked the blade. Both pilots suddenly raised their other weapons. The Farsight's beam pistol was inches from the Massacre's chest, while the twin barrels of the Massacre's Fenrir Gatling gun were inches from the Farsight's. The two mobile suits stayed there for a moment, locked in that position. Neither seemed willing to risk moving. "I must admit," John said. "You're much better then most pilots, even if you as wild as they get."

"You're dead!!" Kevin shouted back.

The Massacre pushed the Farsight back and swung it's saber down. However, the Farsight was a faster machine than it's opponent. Especially in John's hands. He quickly sidestepped the blow. "Too slow." John commented, swinging his own saber down.

But the Massacre managed to raise it's saber back up, blocking the blow. Then Kevin followed up with a kick to the Farsight's chest, sending the mobile suit stumbling back. Kevin raised the Massacre's Fenrir Galting gun, aiming directly at the Farsight's cockpit...

But just before Kevin could squeeze the trigger, a barrage of bullets impacted the Massacre's side. Kevin turned to his attacker. The Raven continued to fire on the Massacre as it down towards the two mobile suits. The Raider still chasing after it. Kevin fired all of his remaining Gatling guns at the annoying airborne pests. Both mobile suits managed to swerve and transform back to mobile suit mode, avoiding the incoming fire.

"What the hell?! You almost hit me you nutjob!!" Clotho shouted.

"Get out of my way or I'll kill you too!" Kevin roared back, still firing on the Raven and the Raider.

Clotho growled and fired his railgun at the Massacre. "Eat this you crazy bastard!"

The Massacre jumped back, evading the rounds and ceasing it's barrage. "Damn. These guys are nuts!" Chris said to himself as he watched the two new Earth Forces mobile suits.

Then to his surprise, both Clotho and Kevin stopped their attacks and turned to him. "Oh crap..." he whispered just before the two fired on him.

Chris desperately pulled the Raven upwards as fast as he could. Just barely evading their attacks. "Guess even these lunatics have enough sense to focus on their actual enemies and not each other."

The Massacre's missile pods opened and fired the remaining missiles at Raven. Chris fired his railgun and Igelstellungs, destroying the missiles. The Raider's hammer came flying at the Raven. Chris pulled up the shield part of his railgun. The hammer slammed into the shield, pushing the Raven back. Chris reached out and grabbed the hammer's cable and pulled. Clotho was caught off guard and the Raider was pulled forward. "Bastard! Annihilate!!" Clotho roared, firing his railgun at the Raven.

Needing to dodge the shots, Chris let go of the cable, allowing the Raider to reclaim his weapon. "Not bad copycat. But you're still just a cheap imitation." he said, heading higher into the air.

"Come back here!" Clotho shouted, chasing after the Raven.

Kevin turned back to where the Farsight had been standing. Only to find it missing. "Where are you, coward?! Don't tell me you've run away!" he shouted, searching for the missing machine.

"If you want to fight me, you'll have to find me first."

Kevin let out a frustrated roar. "Forget you coward! If you won't fight me face to face, then you can go to hell!!!"

He took off, heading after the Raven and the Raider. If that coward wasn't going to fight him, then he'd find some brave enough to actually fight him.

John watched as the Massacre flew off. Normally, he wasn't the kind to hide from a fight. But he had underestimated the Massacre. He thought that he could have taken it out quickly and return to his role as sniper. But both the mobile suit and it's pilot were too formidable for a quick victory. And at the moment, the Orb defenders needed his sniper abilities to help hold back the tide. Hopefully, Kira and Chris would be able to deal with those machines.

* * *

Aboard the Cousteau

Outside Orb Territorial Waters

Yzak watched as the screens displaying the battling Earth Alliance and Orb forces. He was particularly focused on the screens displaying the stolen Freedom and the Raven. Freedom was fighting one of the new Earth Forces mobile suits while the Raven was apparently being chased by another mobile suit that was almost identical to it.

But he wasn't the only one watching. Commander Creuset, Saya, Zane and virtually the entire bridge crew were watching the battle play out. Yzak had to admit, it was pretty brave of a small nation like Orb to stand up to the much, much larger forces of the Earth Alliance. They were doomed of course. The only way Orb could have won, was if they had accepted ZAFT's offer of assistance. Regardless of their decision, Orb was still putting up one hell of a fight. And there were even brief moments were Yzak thought that perhaps Orb could actually beat back the invaders.

"Make sure to record everything you can about those new machines." Commander Creuset ordered. "We'll likely have to face them in the future, so any information we can gain from this battle on them will be helpful."

The Freedom fired it's Balaena plasma cannons at the new Earth mobile suit. Only to have the beams deflected by the mobile suit's strange backpack mounted shields. Then it fired back with it's powerful cannon. The Freedom sidestepped as beam shot out and then curved towards the Freedom. The white mobile suit barely managed to dive down under the beam. "It's seems the Earth Forces have come up some interesting new technology." Zane commented. "Especially considering that it's going up against a machine like the Freedom."

At that moment, the Raven and it's black copycat appeared. The Raven fired on the green mobile suit. It's shields came down again. But the deflecting capabilities of those shields did nothing to the bullets of the Raven's guns. Both machines then fired their railguns. But the two pilots managed to dodge the others shots, thought the Raven was forced to transform back to it's mobile suit mode to evade the high velocity rounds. Suddenly, the black mobile, in it's mobile suit mode, launched it's spherical breaker at the Raven, hitting it in the back. Yzak heard a gasp coming from behind him as the Raven fell.

Yzak glanced over his shoulder. It was the Commander's new red haired assistant. Her eyes were locked on the screens and clutching something in her hand. A necklace or perhaps a set of dog tags, based on the small chain sticking out the bottom of her fist. Yzak didn't know a lot about her. He wasn't even sure when she had come on board. The first time he had actually seen her was after Panama. But he heard from some of the crew, that she had been on board since JOSH-A. In fact, some of those people claimed they saw her in an Earth Forces uniform. And of course, that led to rumors going around the ship about her. Some claimed that she was one of their spies, that the Commander had recovered from JOSH-A during the attack. Which did make sense since the Commander did disappear for awhile during the battle. But Yzak didn't buy that. Her demeanor and expression weren't that of a normal soldier. Rather, she seemed to constantly on edge and extremely nervous, almost afraid, to be here. It seemed more likely that she was a captured soldier. But then why didn't the Commander lock her up? And if it was true, then why was he passing her off as his assistant?

This of course led to the darker rumors that were never uttered in the Commander's presence. That the girl wasn't his assistant but rather his lover. A few even suggested that she actually be a captured Earth Forces soldier that the Commander captured and has taken as his lover.

But Yzak brushed those rumors off as bad gossip and nothing more. Whatever the reason for her being here was, he was sure that it was good one. He turned back to the screens. The Raven had managed to stop it's freefall and was firing back at both the black machine and the red one that had just arrived. If he had been paying more attention to her, Yzak may have noticed that her eyes weren't locked on all of the screens, but rather the one showing the Raven.

* * *

"Incoming missiles!" Sai shouted as wing of Spearhead fighters fired off their missiles.

"Evade!" Murrue ordered.

"There's no time!"

Suddenly, yellow beams tore through the path of the missiles, destroying them. Everyone on the Archangel's bridge looked out the side windows. Standing nearby them was Buster. "Archangel, I got your back." Dearka said, firing on the fighters.

* * *

"Go! Go! Go!" an Earth Alliance Lieutenant shouted, leading a squad of Strike Daggers towards a group of Orb Astrays and tanks.

Just after they past a pair of damaged buildings, a black mobile suit appeared out of no where. The Neo Blitz fired it's beam rifle at the advancing mobile suits, quickly gunning down two of machines. The remaining Daggers in the rear of the group stopped, turned around and fired back. The Neo Blitz pulled out it's shield out in front of it. To the surprise of the Alliance pilots, the beam were deflected by the shield.

"What?! Impossible!" one pilot shouted.

"Wow. They really weren't kidding around when they said that this was more than just a rebuilt Blitz." Nicol said as he blocked more beams.

At that very moment, the Surge appeared on the left side of Daggers, heading towards them at great speed. Both of it's katanas drawn. Some of the Dagger pilots saw the Surge coming and turned to face it. But they weren't fast enough. The Surge sliced through many of mobile suits as it past through the group. Those that he missed were so stunned by this sudden attack, that they stopped firing. Allowing Nicol to finish them off.

"Damn...I should have gotten all of those. Someone's been screwing around with my Surge. It doesn't handle right." Saul complained as he adjusted the machine's OS.

"I don't know. The Neo Blitz handles just like the Blitz." Nicol said. "Are you sure that you aren't just a little rusty?"

"Hey! There's no way my skills have dulled!"

"That's not what it looks like to me."

Two mobile suits suddenly dove for cover as a barrage was fired in their direction. "Come on boys! Let's take those punks down!" an Earth Forces pilot said as more Daggers advanced on the pair.

"Jeez... Don't you guys give up?" Saul asked as he and Nicol fired back with their rifles.

* * *

Orga effortlessly destroyed a group of Atrays with the Calamity's overwhelming fire power. They were all pathetically ease to destroy. Orga looked up. All three of his teammates were up in the air, fighting that funny white mobile suit and the Raider copy. And they seemed to be holding their own against his teammates. That just wouldn't do. The Calamity jumped into the air, it's thrusters pushing it towards the group. "Mind if I join in?" he said, firing into the heart of the group.

All five mobile suits scattered, trying to avoid the incoming fire. "Orga! You bastard!" an irate Clotho shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Orga laughed. "Making sure you guys don't hog all the fun!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to fighters, a tragedy was about to happen. A family of four ran through the woods, trying to reach the boats that were evacuating the civilians of Orb. Shinn Asuka looked up at the mobile suits fighting above them. The white one and dark blue one were shrugging against the other four. Shinn really wasn't sure which ones were fighting for Orb and which ones were with the Earth Forces.

Suddenly, the dark blue one and the black one, both of which had transformed into a bird-like mode, raced dangerously close overhead. Forcing Shinn and his family to brace themselves as a strong gust of wind slammed into them.

"My phone!" Mayu cried out as her phone flew out of her pocket and fell down the side of the hit.

Mayu headed for her cell phone, but their mother grabbed her arm. "Forget about it. We have to go Mayu."

"But my phone!"

"Don't worry. I'll get it." Shinn said, running down the side of the hill.

The Calamity landed on the ground, targeting the Freedom. The Freedom entered HiMAT mode as it aimed at the Calamity. The Freedom and the Calamity both fired at the other. While both pilots missed their targets, they had inadvertently hit something else.

Shinn had found Mayu's phone and picked it up when he felt the massive wave of heat and air slam into him, tossing him down the rest of the hill. By some small miracle, the only injuries he had sustain were some scraps and bruises, and having the wind knocked out of him. He slowly got to his feet, still clutching Mayu's cell phone. "Mom! Dad! Where are you?! Mayu!" Shinn called out, as started to search for his family. "Mom! Dad! Ma-"

It didn't take him long to find them. The path they had been running across, had collapsed. And lying there, among the rubble, was Mayu. She was lying on her back, maybe eight feet from him. Mayu looked like she could have been sleeping. If it wasn't for the fact that were a number of cuts and bruises on her skin. Including a nasty cut on her forehead. Lying a few feet from Mayu, was his mother. Lying in a pool of her own blood and her body twisted in an unnatural angle. Then he noticed his father, crushed between a boulder and a fallen tree.

Shinn screamed to the heavens as he fell to his knees. His cry a mixture of pain and sorrow. Tears began to pour down his face. Why had they been killed? They weren't soldiers. They didn't deserve to be murdered like that! So then why? Why had this happened?

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him. "Come on! There's nothing you can do for them." a voice said as the hands lifted Shinn to his feet.

The voice belonged to an Orb officer. But Shinn didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. He just wanted to lay down and die alongside his family. Seeing the state he was in, the Orb officer shook him, trying to shake him out of his stupor. "Your family would have wanted you to survive. Come on. The boat will be leaving soon." he said, half dragging Shinn to the boat.

As they left for the boat, something happened that no one noticed. Mayu's hand twitched.

* * *

All across Orb, the battles raged. The Buster and the Archangel let loose a furious barrage on the advancing invaders. Cutting down dozens of mobile suits and fighters. The Neo Blitz and the Surge tore Strike Daggers in the close-quarters of the city blocks. Using their superior abilities to overwhelm the Daggers. Mu, in the Strike, was leading a squad of Astrays. Together, they were managing to push back the advancing Daggers. Elsewhere, John had resumed his role as sniper. Gunning down Alliance forces all over Onogoro. Even hitting some of their closer naval vessels. Like Nicol and Saul, Liz had taken to fighting the enemy mobile suits at close range, where the Athena's swords could make easy work of the mass production mobile suits.

But even with the aid of the Archangel and Gundams, was only just barely holding back the tide of the Earth Alliance forces. For every Strike Dagger that fell, there were two more to take it's place. While for Orb Astray lost, cut the defenders' strength. And even though the Earth Forces' second generation Gundam were being distracted by the Freedom and Raven, the sheer numbers of Daggers were enough to cut through parts of the defenders' lines.

A squad of Strike Daggers gunned down a group of defending Astrays and tanks. A wing of bombers dropped their deadly payload upon a cluster of artillery guns. An Orb Aegis-class battleship was hit by a pair of Fraser-class vessels and started sinking.

Samuel watched these scenes and many more like them play out with an emotionless expression on his face. Unlike Cagalli, who was wearing her emotions quite clearly. There was no point in getting emotional or dwelling on all the deaths at the moment. It would only serve to distract him. He had learned long ago to seal up his emotions during battle.

The battle was not going well for Orb. Or at least not as well as he had hoped. He had miscalculated. Not on the number of the invaders. He had actually predicted a much larger force than this. No. It was those four new mobile suits they had developed. He knew they would have built successors to the G-Units from Heliopolis. But he hadn't expected them to be so formidable. While Kira and Chris were distracting them, limiting the damage they could do. It was at the same time, robbing them of their strongest weapon, the Freedom. He had predicted that with the Freedom fighting in the frontline, it would have bought them hours, possibly an extra day, before Orb was overrun. But now... Now things weren't looking so good for them.

* * *

In the skies above Orb, things were not going well for both Kira and Chris either. The new mobile suits of the Alliance, were all technologically superior to everything they had faced before. Added to this, the pilots themselves were as skilled as anyone they had fought before. Kira was managing to hold his own against them, using a combination of his skill as pilot and the power of the Freedom. But Chris found himself relying more on his skill as a pilot than the abilities of his aging Raven. Even with the upgrades the Raven received from Morgenroete, it was becoming clear to Chris that his trusted mobile suit was becoming old and obsolete in the face of these newer and more powerful Gundams. The Massacre fired off it's Ragnorak beam cannon at Chris. The Raven flew up, avoiding the beam. "Come on Raven, let's show them that you're not obsolete yet!" he said, firing at the Massacre.

One of his shots hit it's target, shredding the mobile suit's head fin and the beam cannon with it. Needless to say, Kevin was less then happy to see his beam cannon destroyed. The Massacre lunged forward, reigniting it's beam saber. "I'll tear you apart!! RAAAAAGH!!!"

Chris swore as he pulled back, trying to avoid the Massacre's charge as he drew his own sabers. Kevin swung his saber down as Chris crossed his in front of him, blocking the attack. Suddenly, the Massacre's leg came up, kicking the Raven.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the pair, a warning light went off in the Raven's cockpit. Chris swore as he glanced at his power meter. "Dammit. I'm getting low on power. I'm gonna have to resupply soon."

Kira nodded, firing at the Massacre. "Go. I'll cover you."

"Right." Chris said, pulling the Raven away from the battle with the Earth Forces' new Gundams.

_'Dammit. All four are still fighting.'_ Chris thought as he withdrew. _'What kinda of batteries do those things have?! A normal battery should have run low by now. But these guys are still going strong. How is that possible?'_

"What's this? Running away copycat?" Clotho said, taking aim at the Raven's back. "I don't think so!"

But before he could fire, Kira fired at the Raider. Forcing Clotho to move out of the way of the beams. However, Clotho was still not willing to let the 'copycat' go and started firing at the fleeing Raven. Chris evaded shots as Kira continued to fire at the Raider. Shani, seeing that Kira was distracted, fired it's plasma induction cannon at the Freedom. Kira caught the incoming plasma beam in the corner of his eye and dodged the shot. However at that moment, Clotho decided to focus on the Freedom. "Game over." Clotho said, just before he fired his Zorn cannon at the Freedom's back.

Kira spun around to face the beam. But he had no time to mount any kind of defense. His life flashed before his eyes as the beam drew towards the Freedom.

But it wasn't his time yet...

At that very moment, a red Gundam appeared in front of the Freedom, blocking the beam with it's shield. The battle between the mobile suits stopped as everyone stared at the newcomer, unsure of what to make of him. The new mobile suit and trained it's beam rifle on the new Earth Forces mobile suits. "Are you alright Kira?" Athrun asked.

Kira's eyes widened in shock. "Athrun?"

* * *

Yes, Mayu survived. I have two things to say about her, and that's all I'm going to say about her. First, she won't appear in Destiny until later. (Aside from flashbacks) So don't expect her to show up in the first chapter with Shinn as ZAFT pilot or something like that. Personally, I don't like that about Destiny stories where she's alive and is a pilot for the Minerva. As Shinn is sixteen in the beginning of Destiny, so the oldest she could be is fifteen. To young for a normal, peacetime soldier. The second thing is, Shinn won't know she's alive until she returns in Destiny. And that's all I'm going to say about her.

As always, please review! Especially, all you people that have recently been putting my story in their favorites without reviewing it.


	26. Phase Twenty Five: Into the Dawn Skies

Yo everybody! I just want to say, thank you for the response to my last chapter! Because of that response, I was driven to write this chapter as quickly as I could. As thanks for the response. And a special thanks to my long time fans and a new fan, Nivek Beldo. I've never had anyone compliment my OCs like that before. I actually can't wait now until I reach the chapters yet to come and hear from you all. Especially the final one.

Now, there is one thing I wish to set straight. Just about everyone's been asking if Chris will get a nuclear MS. Sadly, he won't be piloting a nuclear MS in SEED. I have something special planned for him. Something I can't do with a nuclear MS. So no SEED nuclear MS for Chris.

Now, I loaded the last chapter with fight scenes because I knew that this chapter would have no where near as much. So I could make room for all the important talking parts. So don't expect anything spectacular in this chapter.

**Phase Twenty-Five: Into the Dawn Skies**

Kira's eyes widened as he stared at the red mobile suit before him. "Athrun?"

"Dammit! Who the hell are you?!!" Clotho shouted, transforming the Raider and charging at the pair.

"Wow... Another one of these funny looking mobile suits." Shani commented before he too charged the Freedom and the Justice.

Both Earth Forces machines fired. The Freedom and the Justice flew up, dodging the shots.

"What are you doing here?" Kira demanded. "Has ZAFT decided to stick it's nose in this battle too?"

"I haven't received any specific orders regrading this battle. This intervention is my decision alone!" Athrun said, firing on the two mobile suits as they passed.

The Raider transformed back and spun around. "I don't know who you are, but you're going to be a fatality too!!" Clotho shouted as he threw his hammer at the Justice.

Athrun dodged the hammer, when suddenly, Kevin appeared behind the Justice. Roaring as he swung the Massacre's saber down on the Justice. Athrun swung and blocked it with one of his own. Suddenly, Kevin pulled up his remaining beam Gatling gun and squeezed the trigger.

But nothing happened. The gun's battery had been depleted. Kevin swore, cursing his weapon's failure to fire. He slammed the useless weapon into the Justice's chest, destroying the gun and knocking Athrun back. "I'm gonna tear you apart!" Kevin shouted, drawing his other saber and charging the Justice.

But Athrun recovered and fired the Fatum-00 subflight pack at the Massacre. It slammed into the mobile suit's chest, knocking it back. The Forbidden lunged at the Freedom, swinging it's scythe. Kira jumped back, avoiding the attack and unfolding the Freedom's railguns. Kira fired, but Shani managed to block the shots with it's shields.

"Finishing move!" Clotho roared, firing his beam cannon at the Justice.

Athrun blocked the beam with his shield. He then drew his other saber and combined them into one dual-bladed saber. He charged the black machine. Clotho blocked his attack with the shield on the Raider's railgun. But the Massacre had returned and hell-bent getting some payback.

However, at that very moment, the Calamity fired again into the group. It's beams coming perilously close to the Justice, the Massacre and the Raider. "Orga!!" an enraged Clotho shouted.

"You're bugging me!" Orga shouted back, the Calamity once again leaping into the air and firing at the group. Specifically the Massacre and the Raider.

Suddenly, he turned to the Forbidden and fired at it. "The same goes for you Shani!!"

Shani defected the beams with his shields. One of the beams flew past the Freedom and the Justice. "These guys don't give a damn about each other." a stunned Athrun said.

The Raider aimed it's railgun at the Calamity. "You're bugging me Org-GAAAAAAAAH!!!"

At that moment, the Gamma Glipheptin in their bodies ran out and the four Biological CPUs started to go through withdrawal. Their bodies were engulfed in agony and they all screamed out in pain. "Aw crap... We're out of time!" Orga shouted. "Clotho!!"

The Raider transformed into it's mobile armor mode and grabbed the Calamity's shoulder with it's claws, pulling it to the Powell, the Forbidden and the Massacre close behind.

* * *

The Powell

"The Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre and the Raider are returning sir."

Everyone on the bridge was stunned. "They're what?!" Captain Oswald shouted.

Azrael scowled. They hadn't last as long as they were suppose to. Nor had they defeated those machines. It was completely unacceptable. He'd have to talk to the doctors about increasing the dosages they were being given. After they were properly punished for their failure of course. And then there were those two machines. The white one and the red one that had just arrived. There was some odd about them. The amount of power those machines were displaying didn't seem possible with normal batteries. He briefly wondered if...

Oswald turned to him. "Do you have an explanation for this?" he demanded.

Azrael stood up. "Well then Captain, I think it's time we took a break from this battle. Recall all you're forces." he said with a smirk. "Don't worry it's only temporary."

"What?!"

"Face it. We're not going to get anywhere with just the Strike Daggers. It simply means Orb had some hidden strengths we weren't quite ready for. We wouldn't stand a chance without the new machines."

Bowing to his logic, Oswald gave the order.

* * *

The Powell fired up a signal flare. Signaling a temporary retreat for the Earth Forces. The defenders of Orbs all collectively breathed out a sigh of relief. It was over... For now.

"They're retreating for now. Have all forces switch to standby." a weary Samuel Dante ordered as Cagalli left the command room. "Have all surviving forces meet at rally points Bravo, Charlie and Zulu. Get all available personal to repair and resupply the surviving units. And send out teams of medics to search for any wounded. I want a full status report on our remaining forces within the hour."

* * *

The Raider's cockpit hatch opened and Clotho fell out, ripping off his helmet. "It hurts!! IT HURTS!!!" he screamed as his fellow Extended cried out in pain as well.

Withdrawal was always pure hell. And no matter how many times they went through it, they were never use to it. Every ounce of their bodies were hit with pain. It felt like every inch of their insides were on fire. They all cried out, almost pleading for some kind of relief from the agony.

But they got none from the doctors. The doctors simply scribbled down notes on their clipboards and watched them flail around in pain.

* * *

Onogoro

"Thanks for the backup." Kira said. "But I'm still wondering, what exactly are your true intentions?"

"I'm under orders from the homeland to either recapture or destroy the machine you're flying right now." Athrun explained. "But I have no intention, at least for now, of fighting you or your allies. I just want to talk."

Kira nodded. "Okay."

A few minutes later, both machines set down on the edge of one of the gatherings of tired Orb soldiers. This particular one was centered around the Archangel. And all of the other Gundams had already arrived there as well. As they landed, a group gathered around the machines. Among the group, was Cagalli, Mu, Chris, Dearka, Saul, Nicol, Murrue and the rest of the Archangel crew. They all watched as Kira and Athrun left their mobile suits and walked towards each other. Both Kira and Athrun found themselves looking back at everything that had happened. From before Heliopolis to their most recent encounters with Lacus Clyne. Out of no where, Birdie appeared and landed on Kira's shoulder. Kira smiled. "Hi Athrun."

Athrun nodded. "Kira."

"Oh you guys!" Cagalli shouted, running towards the pair. When she reached them, she hugged them, her eyes watering slightly. "You guys are such idiots!"

Kira and Athrun couldn't help but chuckle as she held them.

"Well now. If only Yzak were here, then we'd have a full fledged reunion." a familiar voice said.

Athrun broke away from the hug and turned to the voice. Standing in front of the group was Nicol, Dearka and Saul. "It's good to see you Athrun." Nicol said with smile.

Athrun returned the smile. "Same here Nicol."

* * *

Later That Night

A Heli soared over the damaged areas of Orb. Lord Uzumi Nara Athha stared out at the devastation below them. "With our surviving strength, it's unlikely that we will last more than a few hours after resume they're attack." Samuel said from pilot's seat.s

"I know." Uzumi replied. "Was the civilian evacuation successful?"

"For the most part. We've estimated that approximately eighty-five percent of the civilian population has been evacuated. The rest have been moved to the far side of Onogoro. Hopefully they'll be safe there."

Uzumi nodded. "Thank you for all that you've done. I have one more thing I needed for you to do for me."

"You're going through it then?"

"Yes. It is the only way for Orb to achieve a meaningful victory."

Samuel nodded. "I know."

* * *

An Orb Hanger

The hanger was abuzz with activity. Technicians rushed to resupply and repair the Astrays and other mobile suits. Kira and Athrun were sitting together in front of the Freedom and the Justice, explaining what had happened. Chris, Saul, Nicol, Dearka, Miri, and many of the other Archangel crew members all stood nearby. As Kira neared the he of his explanation, Cagalli came by with cups of water to give the two and pass them along before taking a seat across from them.

"I know that it's the most difficult path for Orb to have taken." Kira explained. "But I also believe that it cannot be helped. I believe that Cagalli's father is true. If Orb sided with the Earth Forces, then the Atlantic Federation would use its resources to attack the PLANTs, but the same is true if Orb sided with ZAFT. The only difference would be who was designated the enemy. But there would be no real change for the better. I can't let it go on like that."

He stopped, choosing his next words carefully. "I know I nearly killed your comrade, a close friend. But I never knew him or actually met him before that." He paused again. "The same was true when you killed Tolle. You never knew him or even met him. And it's not like you wanted to kill him."

Athrun averted his glance. He couldn't look Kira in the eye after that. "No, I didn't." he admitted. "But I really wanted to kill you and tried my hardest to do so."

"As did I." Kira said, looking up towards the Freedom and Justice. "It'd be great if we lived in a world where we never had to fight. And that if we could stay in that world forever. But this war is only getting worse everyday. If it continues like this, eventually Earth and the PLANTs will have no choice but to wipe each other out. And that's why I'm fighting." He paused to take a drink. "When I started fighting, I did to protect others. But having pulled a trigger, it's too late to go back. Are you and I will have to fight each other again?"

Athrun couldn't find an answer. The words of his father and Lacus were stuck on a constant loop in his mind. He didn't know what he should do anymore. Before, everything had been so simple. Obey the orders of your superiors in the military and the government, and fight the enemy. But now everything had become so complicated.

Kira turned to Chris. "I'm curious, why do you fight Chris?" he asked.

Chris shrugged. "Well nothing as noble as you. I guess I'm simply watching your back so you live long enough to change the world for the better. That, and keep everyone else alive."

Kira smiled as he stood up. "Well, I should get back to my duties now." he said before leaving.

"I have one question Kira." Athrun said, stopping him. "The Freedom has the N-Jammer Canceler. What if someone tried to acquire the data for their own purposes?"

"I'd shoot them." Kira said instantly. "And if needed, I'd destroy the Freedom to safeguard it."

And with that, Kira left. Chris let out a whistle. "Whatever Miss Clyne said to him in PLANTs, it sure was effective." he commented. "Well, I better go see that the Raven's been resupplied."

He left as well. And one by one, the others left to get back to work. Though, Miri got into a bad argument with Dearka about Tolle's death at Athrun's hands before she ran off with Dearka chasing after her. In the end, only Athrun and Cagalli were left.

* * *

The Powell

"So Captain, when will we be able to resume the attack?" Azrael asked.

"Orb has been repeatedly sending requests to open negotiations." Oswald said.

"No. It's far too late for that." Azrael replied. "We could never hope to control a nation like that. It'd be in our best interest if they... _disappeared_."

"We'll be ready to resume the attack in the morning. The main concern is with your_ people_."

"Sorry about that. But things are being taken care of as we speak. There won't be a repeat of what happened earlier."

* * *

The Hanger

Athrun sat beside the Justice, thinking on everything that had happened since this whole mess began. But he noticed that Cagalli was standing nearby and watching him. "Why are you sticking so close to me anyway?" he asked.

"No reason." Cagalli answered. "I just wanted to keep an eye on you."

While he didn't laugh, he did get her little joke. After all that had happened the two previous times they'd been together, he wasn't surprised the she'd stick close to him for a while.

"You must be relieved to see that Kira's alive." she commented.

Athrun wasn't sure what exactly to say to that. "Yeah." He paused and added. "I never got to thank you for before."

"What? Of course you did. Well, kind of. After all, in your state of mind at the time, you might not remember."

She, of course, was lying.

"Mm... Yeah." an unconvinced Athrun said.

Cagalli wanted to change the subject, and fast. "Kira's really changed, hasn't he?"

"Not really."

Cagalli twisted her head back to him. "No?"

"He's pretty much the same as he's always been." He replied, standing up.

"So, what you plan to do about everything?" she asked with a hint of nervousness. She was worried about his answer to her question.

"I really don't know." He told her. "But maybe the answer is right in front of me and I just haven't seen it yet. This is going to be a tough choice."

As he walked away, Cagalli had to agree with him. Everyone at Orb, she, her father, her friends, and the crew of the Archangel faced a daunting path ahead of them.

* * *

The Powell

The Next Morning

"We've increased the Gamma Glipheptin by ten units." the doctor coldly explained to them as they writhed on the ground in pain. "It should work for at least two hours. If you don't want to feel that kind of pain again, then you better improve your performance."

Clotho, Kevin, Orga, and Shani grabbed the vials they were given and greedily drank the drug. In a matter of seconds, the drug flooded their systems, bringing sweet relief from the pain. Their pain-induced spasms subsided as their cries of pain turned to labored, heavy gasps for air.

"Thank you...for stopping the pain..." Clotho weakly said.

Of course, none of them felt any shred of gratitude towards the doctors who administered the drugs. They hated them and desired to inflict pain the same pain they felt on them. But they couldn't. They needed the drugs the doctors had to survive. Whether it was the Gamma Glipheptin or the other medicine that made going through withdrawal bearable.

"Now get going." the doctor ordered.

The four pilots left the room, heading for the hanger. There was no need for them to change as they hadn't changed out of their flightsuits. All they needed was to get their helmets. Which were still in the hanger.

A few minutes later, they were in their machines, powering them up. If they couldn't take their anger out on the doctors for letting them suffer through the night, then they were gonna take their anger out on something else. Those mobile suits they fought the day before. In their minds, it was because of them that they suffered.

"Those funny machines..." Shani said with a scowl.

"Let's rip them apart." Kevin growled.

"Yeah. They're gonna pay." Clotho added.

"That's a promise." Orga said, agreeing with his teammates.

Today was going to be about revenge.

* * *

The Earth Forces renewed their attack, launching countless Strike Daggers and Spearhead fighters. But the surviving Orb defenders fought like they were possessed. The Farsight fired into the air, hitting Daggers and Spearheads every time. Dearka fired off his cannons and missiles into the air as well, taking out more invaders.

Elsewhere, an Astray and Dagger dueled when a second Dagger moved into the attack the Astray from behind. Suddenly, the Neo Blitz fired it's pincer claw at the mobile suit. The claw grabbed the Dagger's waist and squeezed. The claws cut into the machine's sides until it exploded. At the same time, the Astray overpowered the Dagger and sliced it in two. "Thanks." Juri said.

"Don't mention it." Nicol replied.

Nearby, the Surge fired off it's claw, which tore through a Dagger while he gunned down another one with his rifle. Three more Daggers fired at him. The Surge leaped out of the way, firing it's rifle at them. The shots found their marks, destroying the Daggers.

Overhead, the Freedom, the Justice and the Raven all fired down on the mobile suits. Kira's shots stripped the Daggers of their weapons, limbs and heads. While Chris's and Athrun's shots destroyed Daggers.

An Orb battleship suddenly exploded. From the fire and smoke, the Forbidden emerged. The Massacre appeared, firing it's repaired beam cannon at another Orb vessel, piercing it's hull at the water level. Then the Calamity and the Raider joined in. Their combined firepower sinking two more Orb warships. "Dammit! Where are they?!" Clotho shouted. "Where are those bastards from yesterday?!!"

"It looks like those guys from yesterday are back." Chris said as he stared out at the harbor where they were fighting. "This is gonna be trouble."

"Are you sure you be able to fight them with us?" Kira asked, concerned for his friend.

"Hey! The Raven may not be as new and as powerful as your machines or their's but we can still kick ass together!" Chris shot back in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry. Just asking."

"There they are!!" Orga shouted.

All four Earth Forces mobile suits raced towards the trio. It was time for payback.

* * *

The Athena's heavy swords sliced through a trio of Strike Daggers as Mu gunned down two more. But more Strike Daggers appeared, pressing the attack. "Man... This is getting crazy." Liz said, firing her arm mounted beam rifle at the advancing Daggers. "No matter how many we destroy, more just keep on coming. Is the entire Earth Alliance military attacking Orb or something?"

"I doubt it." Mu replied as he and a group of Astrays fired at the Daggers as well. "If the entire military was brought against Orb, we would have been finished after a few hours yesterday."

At that moment, a barrage of missiles and beams tore through the Daggers. "Numbers won't help you out here!" Dearka shouted as he, Nicol and Saul fired into the group.

"Yeah! Quality trumps quantity!" Saul added.

* * *

"Damn you copycat! Just die already!!" Clotho shouted, firing at the Raven.

Chris dove dodging the shots. "Come on copycat, is that the best you can do?" he taunted, racing away from the Raider.

"Get back here you bastard!" Clotho roared, chasing after the Raven.

_'I don't why those machines have so much power, but if I can get him to use it up quickly, I be able to beat this punk.' _Chris thought as he dodged shots from Raider.

Elsewhere, Kira fired at the Forbidden with his beam rifle. But again, it bounced off the Geschmeidig Panzer system. Suddenly, the Calamity fired at him, forcing him to dodge the beam. Giving Shani an opening. He fired several shots from his plasma induction cannon. The Freedom, like a graceful dancer, moved around the arcing beams. Kira switched the Freedom to HiMAT mode and fired at the Forbidden. Hitting it's defectors with everything he had. However, the Forbidden's shields held out against the onslaught. But Kira figured that if he couldn't overpower the deflector, he try to drain as much of the machine's power as possible.

Nearby, the Massacre and the Justice were going at it. Kevin was firing wildly, but made up for his lack of aim with pure firepower. Athrun was struggling just to avoid the machine's firepower. He had to try something to disrupt the Massacre. He grabbed one of the Justice's beam boomerangs and threw it near the Massacre. Kevin didn't even pause as the flew past him. He did stop however, when the boomerang came back. Heading straight for him. The Massacre sidestepped the weapon, giving Athrun an opening. He caught the boomerang and charged forward, using it as a beam knife. The Massacre's right arm shot up on reflex. Trying to block the beam. The boomerang's blade sliced through the twin barrels of his right Gatling gun. Rendering it useless. Kevin let out an angry growl. "I'm gonna tear you apart!"

He drew a beam saber and swung at the Justice. Athrun barely managed to parry the swing with his boomerang. He quickly kicked the Massacre, knocking it back and allowing him to switch to his own beam saber. Both swung, locking their blades in a contest of strength.

"Die! Die! Die!" Kevin repeated over and over as he tried to overpower the Justice.

But in the end, the Justice started to over power the Massacre. Suddenly, the Massacre's chest plate opened. "DIE!!!" Kevin roared, firing the chest Gatling guns.

Athrun, caught off guard, broke from the contest as bullets impacted the Justice. They had little effect on the Justice, but they had achieved the desired result. Kevin lunged forward, swinging his saber again. Athrun pulled up his shield, blocking the strike.

* * *

The battle raged on across Orb. While the Orb defenders fought valiantly, chipping away at the might of the Earth Forces, they couldn't stand against the numbers of the Earth Alliance forever. Sooner or later, Orb would fall. Lord Uzumi and General Dante grimly watched the battle play out in command room when an officer approached. "Lord Uzumi, General Dante, preparations are complete."

Both men nodded. "Inform our forces, we're abandoning Onogoro." Uzumi ordered. "We're regrouping at Kaguya."

* * *

Chris grimaced as his power meter reached the danger levels. He wouldn't be able to last much longer. And his black double seemed to be able to continue going on for awhile yet. How could these machines have that much power? They couldn't be nuclear powered, so than what was giving these machines all this power?

But he wasn't the only one running low on power. Orga also noticed that his machine was starting to run low. He went to fire the Calamity's Schlag cannons, but nothing happened. It was then he saw the flashing alarms showing that the energy supply was running dangerously low. "Damn! You stupid mobile suit!!" he cursed. "How can you be out of power already?!"

"It's cause you're firing all over the place dumbass." Clotho jeered.

"Shut up!" Orga shouted back.

"If you're leaving, then go." Clotho smugly said as chased after the Raven. "But you're on your own."

But that momentary distraction was all Chris needed. He drew a beam saber and turned around. Clotho narrowly managed to back away from the descending saber. But in the process, Chris's saber sliced through the Raider spherical break, destroying it. Clotho transformed the Raider and fled from the Raven, unaware that it's saber and armor deactivated.

"Hey! You're the dumbass!" Orga called out.

Before Clotho could respond, the Calamity jumped onto the back of the Raider.

"Who the hell said you could get on?!" Clotho demanded.

"Shut up! We're returning to recharge." Orga responded. "You're low on juice as well. So quit complaining!"

Clotho gritted his teeth and finally steered his mobile suit back towards the carrier, carrying Orga. Kira fired at the Forbidden, which raised it's deflector shields again. But this time, the shots hit the shields rather than be deflected. "No more?" Shani said as his power meter read low power.

Kevin roared, firing his Gatling guns and beam cannon at the Freedom. Kira pulled the Freedom up, evading the fire. Suddenly, the Massacre's guns stopped. "Fire! Fire!" Kevin howled as the low power alarms went off in his cockpit. "GAAAAAAH!!!"

Both pilots, seeing no other choice, followed their teammates, heading for the Powell.

* * *

Mass Driver Control Room

Kaguya

A Short While Later

"Leave Orb?" Murrue asked. "You're telling us to just run away?"

"I'm sure that you've realized that Orb has already lost." Uzumi grimly replied. "It's only a matter of time before it completely falls."

"What are you saying, father?" Cagalli asked.

Uzumi turned to her. "The citizens have all been evacuated and they'll be taken care of elsewhere. From here on, we will be the ones to take care of the responsibilities." he turned to the rest of the group and continued. "The Earth Forces' present actions are being guided by the leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael. To make matters worse, the PLANTs are led by someone who believes Coordinators are a new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now. The way things are developing, the world will soon be trapped between two forces who refuse to accept each others' existence. Is this the future you want to see? If you desire a different world, take this small light of hope we've kindled and use it to set a course for a new future. It means a hard road again, but I'm sure you understand why it's necessary, Murrue Ramius."

Murrue nodded. "That light may be small, but it burns brightly. We believe in it as well."

"Then I suggest that you get ready."

Murrue and the rest of the Archangel's bridge crew left the room, returning to the Archangel. Samuel turned from the screen he was staring to the gathered mobile suit pilots. "I suggest you all quickly decide whether you're going with them or not before it's too late."

* * *

A Short While Later

Kira, Athrun, Chris, Dearka, Saul and Nicol all stood outside the Mass Driver with their mobile suits. The ZAFT pilots were trying to decided what they were going to do next while Kira and Chris waited to board the Archangel. "You know, there is still a chance that Carpentaria will welcome us back. After all, we have been fighting the Earth Forces all this time." Dearka suggested.

Saul snorted. "Bah! We'll probably be label as deserters at best and traitors at worst." he said. "I have to admit, it felt good fighting because I wanted to rather than because I was ordered to."

"Then what are you suggesting?"

"Well, maybe we should stay with the Archangel and fight with them."

Athrun absently listened to the discussion. His mind focused on his encounter with Lacus. "She called me a soldier of ZAFT. She knew all along what I had become." He said, interrupting the conversation. "Since this war started, I thought you just had to follow the orders of your nation no matter what and defeat the enemy to bring a quick end to the war. But now…Now I'm just not sure anymore. What is it that we should really be fighting against?"

"Come with us, Athrun." Kira said. "We'll try to find the answers together."

Athrun smiled and looked back at the line of M1s that were boarding the Kusanagi. He knew Kira had a valid point. Maybe together, they could find what they should really be fighting against and bring this war to an end.

* * *

The Powell

"They're gathering at Kaguya?"

"Yes, it looks like they're getting ready to make their last stand." Oswald answered.

Azrael smirked. "Attha still is insisting to drag this out to the bitter end. Actually I find this quite amusing. It'll be more satisfying when we crush them all into the dust."

"Director." An officer said. "The machines have been resupplied and are ready. Shall I give the order to launch?"

"Of course, you dolt!" Azrael barked. "Send them out immediately!" Moments later, he watched as the Raider, the Forbidden, the Calamity, and the Massacre took off.

* * *

Mass Driver Control Room

"Sir! Incoming mobile suits! It's those four!"

Samuel swore. The Archangel's launch was about to begin. They couldn't let those four interfere. There was only one thing they could to buy time. "Remaining Orb forces. This is General Dante. Those four new Earth Forces machines are heading for the Mass Driver. You must stop them for as long as you can so we can launch the Archangel and the Kusanagi." he said over the comm. "But don't be heroes. Just buy us some time."

"Don't worry sir! We won't let those bastards reach Kaguya!"

He closed the comm line and saluted the men and women he had just sent to their deaths. "Initiate the final launch sequence! Get the Archangel into space now!!"

* * *

"It's those four again." Kira said as the Freedom and the other mobile suits powered up. "We'll cover your launch, Archangel."

"Dearka, Nicol, Saul, return to the Archangel. Your machines aren't equipped for an aerial battle." Athrun ordered.

"Fine." Deakra grumbled as the three of them headed for the Archangel. "But you guys better watch your backs out there."

"We will."

"You better go too Chris." Kira added. "We may have to make a sudden escape and the Raven may not have the power to make it."

"Right. Just make sure you guys catch the last bus out of here." Chris said, joining the others heading for the Archangel.

"Don't worry. We will." Kira replied as they headed towards the incoming mobile suits.

Once the last of the mobile suits boarded the Archangel and were secured in it's hanger, the ship started it's launch. Once it was up in the air, the Archangel fired it's Lohengrin cannons, creating a Positronic Interference Effect as it activated the additional boosters from the Kusanagi, that had been mounted on the ship. Propelling the white warship into the atmosphere.

Inside the control room, Uzumi and Samuel watched the Archangel head into space. Next to them, was Cagalli, pleading with her father. "Father, please! There's no reason for you to stay here! We can escape together!"

Uzumi turned to his daughter. She was wrong. There was one final thing for him to do. "What are you still doing here, Cagalli?!" he said, grabbing her arm and started to drag her away from the control room. Samuel followed them. "We have our responsibilities, as you have yours! All will be lost if no one is left to carry out our hopes!"

"The Kusanagi has been fully loaded and all components are configured for launch." one of the members of the government called over the intercom. The facility shook as the battle outside drew closer. At last, Uzumi, Samuel, and his daughter reached the ship as Kisaka waved to them. "Lord Uzumi! General Dante! Cagalli! Hurry!" he called out.

Uzumi shoved Cagalli towards Kisaka, but remained on the platform. "Hurry, Kisaka. And please take care of my foolish daughter."

"No father!" Cagalli pleaded, her eyes watering.

Uzumi looked to her and his hardened expression became softer. He wiped tears that dripped from her eyes. "Stop giving me that look. It doesn't suit the daughter of the Lion of Orb." He said, comforting her. "You may be losing your father, but you won't be alone." He then handed her photo of a young woman cradling two newborns in her arms. "You'll be with your brother."

Cagalli was shocked by what he had just said and looked on the back of the photo. In the lower corner, two names were scribbled on the photo. '_Kira_' and '_Cagalli_'. She gasped, overwhelmed by this sudden revelation. She looked up at her father, who nodded, confirming the truth of the matter.

Uzumi turned to Samuel. "You as well Samuel." he said to the aging general.

Samuel was visibly stunned by this request. "But-"

"Go. My daughter will need someone to help her and guide her in the years to come."

Samuel sighed and nodded. "It has been a privilege and an honor." he said as they shook hands for the last time.

"Indeed it has. For the both of us."

Samuel turned around and boarded the Kusanagi as well. Uzumi turned to his daughter for the last time and smiled. "I feel very fortunate to have been your father."

At that moment, the hull door was sealed shut, separating them, and the catwalk pulled away. "Go now, everything rests on you all from here on!" He called before retreating back to the command center.

The Kusanagi's bridge crew performed the final systems check as did those in the Mass Driver Control Room. Everything was ready to go.

"Departure of all personnel except those in Division C is confirmed."

"All systems are a go."

"Launch the Kusanagi." Uzumi ordered as he reached the control room.

The Mass Driver activated as the Kusanagi's engines ignited. The vessel started to slide across the Driver ramp. Slow at first. But steadily gaining speed as it went. But this did not go unnoticed. The six mobile suit pilots battling near the Mass Driver noticed it. All four Extended pilots turned to the Kusanagi. They failed to stop the white ship, so they weren't gonna let this one get away. While for Kira and Athrun, it was their last chance to get into space.

All of them headed for the Kusanagi, with the Freedom and the Justice in front. Kira reached the ship first, landing on the Kusanagi and grabbing a hold of it's side. Kira turned to Athrun, who was struggling to reach the ship. Kira extended the Freedom's hand to the Justice as the Earth Forces machines started firing at them. But all of their shots went wide, missing the ship and the mobile suits.

Athrun finally managed to grab the Freedom's hand and Kira pulled him in. Once the Justice was secure, both of them turned around to face their attacks and let loose a barrage. The shots hit the water, sending up a huge geyser in the path of the Extended, stopping them.

At that moment, the Kusanagi cleared the ramp, rocketing into the heavens.

* * *

Mass Driver Control Room

Lord Uzumi and most of Orb's government were gathered, watching the Kusanagi fly into space with the Freedom and the Justice. "We've done it. The seed has flown." Uzumi said as his hand reached for a single, large red button on the console, his expression hardening. "We can't leave Orb or this world in the hands of those bastards."

His finger pushed the button...

The bombs that had been planted, went off. A massive fireball consumed Morgenroete as explosions traveled along Orb's Mass Diver. Destroying both and robbing the Alliance of it's sole reasons for invading Orb. Aboard the Powell, Azrael watched in horror as everything they had worked for went up in flames. Those damn Biological CPUs had completely failed him! He'd make sure the doctors held off giving them their medicine for half a day at least, as punishment for their failure. He slammed his fists into the armrests of his chair. "Damn you Uzumi Nara Athha!!!" he screamed.

Aboard the Kusanagi, Cagalli cried out for her father as the fireball consumed the entire Mass Driver facility.

* * *

And so Uzumi Nara Athha dies. I rather liked him. He had some great speeches. And his death was great. I'd have to rate it as one of the top ten anime deaths of all time. Ah well. The final stretch has come. And some very interesting things are going to happen soon.

As always my fans, please review. I love to hear from you and it drives me to write faster.


	27. Phase Twenty Six: Trembling World

Yo everybody. You know what today is? The one year anniversary of this story! So I had to have a chapter posted to day.

Before I start, I've been asked a couple of questions over Mayu. And I wish to answer them all at once. First off, as I said before, we aren't going to see Mayu again until Destiny. As to what immediately happened to her, she was discovered by a group of Orb soldiers and rushed to a field hospital where her injuries were treated. Beyond that, you're just gonna have to wait. And Shinn's parents were killed as they were in the canon. Meaning that either the Freedom, the Calamity or both that were responsible.

And to joiret, I'm not familiar with that series. And I don't do stories on series I don't know. And I'm not a vampire fan.

**Phase Twenty-Six: Trembling World**

Earth Orbit

The Freedom, the Justice, the Raven, the Farsight, and the Kusanagi's Astrays floated around the separated compartments of the Kusanagi, aiding in the vessel's assembly.

John couldn't help but smile as the Farsight flew around a section of the Kusanagi. "Ah... It feels so good to be in space again."

"When was the last time you were in space?" Kira asked.

"Far too long. I'm not a ground-pounder like Andy was. Space is where I belong." John replied. "You should have seen us when we were your age. Individually, we were skilled pilots, but together we were truly formidable. Filling out the other's weaknesses, leaving only our strengths. It's a shame that we will never fight side by side again. But I'm rambling and we have work to do. Come on let's get back to work."

* * *

The Archangel's Bridge

"We're done with the docking operations." Kisaka reported. "After a final systems check, we'll be set to disembark.

"That's good to hear." Murrue replied, but her expression was still somber. "How's Cagalli?"

Kisaka hesitated for moment. "She has calmed down somewhat, but it's been very hard on her."

"At the moment, none of us have heart to tell her not to cry." Samuel added.

Murrue nodded. "All right, with your permission, we'll come over and discuss our next move."

"Okay. We'll make preparations for you and await your arrival." Kisaka said. "Over and out."

* * *

Aboard the Kusanagi

A Short While Later

Inside the crew quarters section of the Kusanagi, Cagalli sat alone in her room's lavatory. Her eyes were red and puffed from her crying. It felt like the entire world had collapsed the instant the Kaguya Mass Driver exploded. She stepped over to the sink and turned on the water, filling a small basin. Once it was full, she plunged her head into the cool water. When she straightened up and her vision cleared, she looked at her reflection. Her hair was a wet, tangled mess while her face was tired and ragged. Then her intercom buzzed. "Cagalli?"

It was Kira. But she didn't answer.

"Is everything all right?" Kira asked.

She still didn't answer right away. She grabbed a towel and dried off her face. She came out and answered her door, finding both Kira and Athrun standing outside.

"Sorry." She said, turning away from them. "But could you please let have a little more time to myself?"

Kira nodded. "Sure." he said, leaving with Athrun.

Cagalli returned to her bed and pulled the photo her father gave her from her pocket. She stared at the two infants, knowing that she was one of the infants. The other was apparently Kira. Her long lost sibling that she had no knowledge of. But how was it possible? And just who was this woman? Their birth mother? Then who was their father? And why had they been separated? She shook her head. There were too many unanswered questions about this whole situation.

* * *

A shuttle was launched from the Archangel, heading for the Kusanagi. Mu piloted the craft, with Murrue sitting next to him in the copilot chair.

"The real challenge is ahead of us." Mu commented.

"Yes, I know that." She answered. "Orb has left us with a heavy burden. I only hope that we are able to carry out the task."

Once they all arrived on board, Samuel, Kisaka and John met up with them and led them towards the bridge. "The Kusanagi was originally used as a communications ship with Heliopolis." Kisaka explained. "It is capable enough as a mobile suit carrier with adequate armaments, but it still doesn't compare to the Archangel."

"So, this ship is made up of five compartments." Mu said. "And everyone on board travels between the compartments through the center. Talk about efficient."

Kisaka nodded and they turned one last corner before reaching the bridge. They entered and Murrue and Mu were even more surprised.

"This is just like the Archangel's bridge." Murrue commented.

"This surprises you? After all, both ships were designed by Morgenroete." Kisaka replied, turning to a person at a console. "Can you bring up a map of this region of space?"

"Sure." A familiar voice answered. Murrue and Mu looked to see a woman whom they were both familiar with.

"Chief Erica Simmons." Mu said with a grin. "It's good to see that you made it as well."

"And she's not the only one here." another familiar voice said from behind.

Murrue and Mu turned to the voice. Johanna Dante. "Since we'll be using M1s and the other new suits in the unfamiliar environment of space, we're here to make sure they function smoothly." Erica said as she typed on the keyboard in front of her, bringing up a map on a nearby screen.

"This is our present location." Samuel said, pointing to a flashing green dot. "As you know, all the PLANTs are located at L5 and Artemis is at L3. For the time being, we should make our way towards the L4 area."

As they talked, Kira, Athrun, Chris and Cagalli stepped onto the bridge.

"What's at L4?" Murrue asked.

"There are some abandoned colonies located there." Samuel explained. "The Kusanagi and Archangel won't need supplies for some time. But we still have limits, especially concerning water. The colonies at L4 were damaged and abandoned shortly after the fighting began. While they are uninhabited, they'll be useful as a means of a water supply."

"This sounds awfully familiar." Chris muttered, remembering a similar dilemma the Archangel faced months ago, concerning a low water supply.

"Don't worry." Mu said, trying to assure him. "This isn't like Junius Seven."

"There might actually be several fully functioning colonies at L4." Athrun spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Quite a while back, ZAFT investigated reports of a suspicious group roaming the area, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Also, while nobody actually lives there, there should be some colonies operational facilities. They'd be prefect for an out of the way hideout for the time being."

"That sounds like a great plan." Kira said.

"Indeed. The Mendel Colony would be the most ideal." Samuel said, focused entirely the map.

"Mendel? Wasn't that place abandoned sixteen years because of some biohazard accident?" John asked. "Would it really be safe to go there?"

Samuel glanced at him. "Trust me. We want to got to Mendel."

Unnoticed by the others, Samuel pulled out a pocket hard drive. _'It's time for them to learn the dark past of Mendel. All of them.'_ he thought before putting the device back into his pocket.

The others wondered why he was so insistent on Mendel.

Mu turned to Athrun. "Hey, are you sure that you're okay with this?" he asked. "And not just you, this goes for those other guys from ZAFT."

"Commander?" Murrue asked, but Mu held up his hand.

"I saw what you all did at Orb and your action spoke for themselves, but I can't help but notice the uniforms you're still wearing. And depending how things go out there, there's a very good chance that we'll end up fighting ZAFT forces. This won't be like Orb, so are you really ready for this? I know John is with us regardless. But you and the others are different. And you are Patrick Zala's son."

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Cagalli demanded.

"For a soldier to defect is a more serious matter than you seem to think." Mu shot back. "On top of that, it's all the more serious when your own father is the leader of the nation as well. It's difficult to fight a war unless you believe in the cause you're fighting for, all the more so when that belief is turned on his head. I hate to press the issue, but I need to know that I can count on you if we fight together. So can I?"

A heavy silence filled the bridge. Not a word was uttered for a painfully long moment. Athrun finally took a deep breath.

"All I can say is this. Recently I've seen, heard, and thought many things about what's supposed to be right and wrong. I'll admit there are some things I do understand and a lot that I don't. The one thing that is clear to me is that the world I hope for is shared by you all. I'll do what I can to see that our shared goal is achieved."

Mu hesitated to answer, but then smiled. "You sound very determined, and that's a good answer." He then looked to Murrue and the others. "Orb has entrusted us with a heavy task, and we are only two ships. It may be impossible to do anything that won't be in vain."

"You know, there are people in the PLANTs who think the same way." Athrun said.

Kira turned around. "You mean Lacus?"

Athrun nodded.

"Oh, the pink princess, huh?" Mu commented.

"Yeah, she's Athrun's fiancée." Kira said.

There were some gasps and Athrun saw Cagalli give him a quick glance, but turned away just as fast.

Well, actually their engagement had been nullified by Athrun's father. It just hadn't been made public yet. And this really wasn't the time or the place to inform the others about it. "She and her father are being hunted as traitors." Athrun informed them. "By order of my father."

"But she's not our only allies." John said. "If I can get in touch with my comrades, I should be able to convince them to join us."

"You're referring to the 11th Fleet, aren't you?" Mu asked.

"Yes I am."

"What makes you think that they'll be willing to defect like that?"

"Trust me. They'll likely join us."

Murrue cleared her throat. "It's settled then. We'll head for L4 and gather supplies there."

"One more thing Captain Ramius, I understand you have a vacancy in CIC since Ensign Badgiruel was reassigned. I'd like to fill that vacancy, if that's okay with you." Samuel said.

Everyone was caught off guard by this. "But I thought you'd be commanding the Kusanagi."

"Kisaka is more familiar with the Kusanagi than I am. So he'd be better off as it's Captain. Besides, we're not really an official army, so our ranks are pretty much meaningless."

Murrue nodded. Very well then. I accept your offer General Dante."

* * *

Aboard the Powell

Orb

Azrael was furious. While the invasion of Orb had been a success, the whole reason for invading the nation had been lost. Those blasted Biological CPUs just weren't proving to be that combat effective. They needed to be properly motivated. He entered the medical room where they had been placed after returning to the Powell. The four Biological CPUs were crying out in agony from their withdrawal. Shani and Orga were sprawled out on beds in the room. Shani was half curled up into a ball while Orga was on his back, his hands had a death grip on the edges of the bed. Clotho was lying against a wall, clutching his sides. And Kevin was lying on his stomach and writhing on the ground. "Now boys, we need to have a little discussion." Azrael said.

Kevin looked up at him. "Please...stop...pain..."

Azrael responded by stomping on his hand. Causing Kevin to scream in pain. Then a foot hit his face, rolling him onto his side. Azrael gave him a few more kicks to the lower abdomen. "Not until our discussion is done." he said, turning to Clotho. "Now, the four of you have failed us at Orb. Failed _me_. And well...that can't happen again."

Azrael's foot slammed into Clotho's stomach. Clotho let out a gurgling groan as he clutched his stomach. A fist hit Clotho's face. Followed by another. And another. And another before Azrael stopped. "Because of your failures here, we lost Orb's Mass Driver and any technology we could have gained from Morgenroete." he continued, grabbing Shani's hair and pulling his head up, causing Shani to whimper. "And this is your punishment for that colossal failure."

Azrael punched the green-haired Extended. Shani moaned as he grabbed his now bleeding nose. Azrael pulled something out of his pocket. A taser. A second later, Shani was howling in pain as electricity flowed through his body. "But I'm a forgiving man. In fact, you should consider yourselves lucky that I'm the one calling the shots. There are those that would send you back to Lodonia for this failure. Where all of you would never, ever see the light of day again. But I'm a forgiving man. So I'll give you one more chance."

Azrael pulled Orga up by his collar and punched him before shocking him as well with the taser. He then pocketed the taser, dusted his off his hands and headed for the door. "The doctors will be coming by soon to give you your medicine. And in a few hours, we'll be leaving to join the Victoria Operation. And I expect the four of you to win us the battle." He paused at the doorway and added, "But should anything happen to that Mass Driver... Well, you'll wish I sent you back to Lodonia. Do you understand?"

"Y...Yes..."

"Got...it..."

"Yeah..."

"We won't...fail again..."

"Make sure that you don't." Azrael casually replied as he left.

In a few hours, the cargo planes would be ready to transport the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre and the Raider to the staging area of the upcoming Victoria Operation. And they would either succeed or be sent back to Lodonia

* * *

Armory One

"What's the status on the mobile suits?" Commander Kessel asked as she watched the crews work on their new GuAIZs.

"Well sir, we've almost got them all done. All of them should be full upgrade within a few more days." Chief Hughes answered. "I have to say, these new machines are impressive. I bet even those new Earth Forces mobile suits won't stand a chance against these machines when ZAFT starts cranking them out on the field."

Diana turned her gaze to the GuAIZ being painted in her colors. "Indeed They are impressive. But we have yet to see if they are superior to the Earth Forces new machines." she commented.

But her mind was on other matters. Things had taken a drastic turn for the worst in the homeland during her brief time on Earth. One of the new nuclear prototypes stolen. The Clyne family declared traitors to ZAFT. Clyne's supporters on the Council arrested. Her own father on the run. How had things fallen apart so fast? And how was this whole thing going to end?

"Commander!" a voice called out, disrupting her thoughts.

Diana turned to the voice. It was Lucius. "What is it?" she asked.

"We just received word. The battle for Orb has ended." he answered. "The Alliance won but Orb destroyed Morgenroete and it's Mass Driver before they surrendered."

"I see."

"But that's not all sir. A private message has arrived for you sir."

"Who is the message from?"

"_Him _sir."

"Have it send to my quarters."

"Already done sir."

Diana nodded. "Good."

* * *

Aboard the Odin

A Short While Later

Diana entered her quarters and sat down at her desk. A disk was sitting on the desk. She inserted the disk into the computer. The Commander's face appeared on the screen.

"_Things are heating up here on Earth. And I don't know when or even if you receive this message. As you may or may not already know, I am on board the new Earth Forces warship from Heliopolis, the Archangel. We just managed to escape from JOSH-A before the Cyclops System was activated. But if it wasn't for the Freedom, we probably wouldn't have made it. N-Jammer Cancelers... I had never hoped to see such a thing created. You know, when the first nuclear weapons were used, there were those that called them miracle weapons. Capable of leveling enemy cities with a single bomb. Frankly, I fail to see the miraculousness of such weapons. They only make it easier for people to commit mass murder. There is no place for such weapons in true war. Even the Freedom and any other mobile suits like it don't belong in war."_

"_But I'm rambling now. Regardless, Pandora's Box has been opened again. And it's only a matter of time until the Earth Forces figure out a way to nullify the N-Jammers. Or worse, gain access to ZAFT's Canceler. And considering what they did at JOSH-A, I don't think they'd hesitate to use nuclear weapons again. And if Zala's now running things in the PLANTs, then it's likely that if the Alliance starts to beat back ZAFT on Earth, he won't hesitate to either. You must talk with your father. He and Clyne's supporters need to be ready to prevent Zala from using such weapons against the Earth. No matter the cost."_

"_And now that Patrick Zala's running ZAFT, you can expect him to take some action against you and the Fleet. Especially if what I heard you did at Panama is true. He knows you won't blindly follow his orders. And that makes you a threat. I don't need to tell you to be careful. But I will anyway. Be careful._

"_There is one other thing I wish to tell you, your little brother is alive and well. He was captured by us before we arrived at JOSH-A and has been in the ship's brig ever since. Captain Ramius, Captain of the Archangel, will probably soon now that we're in Orb. After they're released, they'll probably find a awy to get back to Carpentaria."_

"_Well... I'm running out of time here. So good bye Diana and make sure nothing happens to my Fleet."_

The message ended and the screen went blank. Diana tapped a finger on the desk, thinking. Things were changing. ZAFT was changing. And she didn't like where Zala was trying to take them.

* * *

The Kusanagi's Hanger

Athrun stared out at the crews working in the hanger. But his mind was now on the fact of his father was now leading the PLANTs down a dark road and he feared what would happen. He also feared for Lacus, wondering about her safety.

"Athrun."

He looked to see Kira and Chris enter the room. Both back in their flightsuits. "Captain Ramius and the others are returning to the Archangel, lets head back too." Kira said.

"Sure."

Just then, the door opened again. They all turned to the door and watched Cagalli enter. "Kira." She said. "There's something we need to talk about."

"We'll give you some privacy." Athrun said as he and Chris turned to leave, but Cagalli stopped them.

"No, please stay."

Both teens glanced at each other, shrugged and nodded. Cagalli passed them and went over to Kira.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

Cagalli gulped and reached into her pocket. "This." she replied, pulling out the photo.

Kira took it as Athrun and Chris came over for a look. "A woman and her babies? Who is this?"

"Look on the back." Cagalli said.

Kira looked and gasped when he saw the names scribbled on the back.

"My father gave me this just before I boarded the Kusanagi." She explained. "He told me that I wouldn't be alone, that my brother would be with me."

Kira's eyes widened at the mention of the word 'brother'. Athrun Chris both glanced back and forth at the photo and their friends. Athrun could suddenly see a resemblance, but he wasn't sure. He opened his mouth to say something. But he found that nothing came out. Chris on the other hand...

"Wait. Let me get this straight. Your father, gave you this photo and told you that you'd be with your brother. And your brother is suppose to be Kira. Correct?"

Cagalli nodded.

Chris shook his head. "This is like some bad soap opera." he muttered.

"What does this all mean?" Cagalli asked, ignoring him. "I don't understand."

"Whatever it may be, this only doesn't tell us anything really." Kira replied.

"But what if this…?" she said. "What does that make me? Who am I really?"

"Dwelling on it won't do any good, Cagalli." Kira said, comforting her. "And it doesn't change the fact the Lord Uzumi was your father."

"Kira." She whispered. "I'm just so confused."

A short time later, she watched as the Freedom, the Justice, the Raven, the Farsight and the Archangel's shuttle exited the hanger. Kira took a glance back at her as she stood in the waiting room.

"Shouldn't you stay with her for now?" Athrun asked.

"No, if I'm with her, she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it." Kira replied. "It'd best if we both had some time to let this sink in."

Of course, he had to admit that he too couldn't stop thinking about this situation. The more he thought about it, the more questions he had.

"It could have been worse." Chris said.

"How so?"

"The two of you could have been well...You know, 'close' when you found out." Chris said with a chuckle.

"Gah! Don't even joke about that!" an annoyed and slightly embarrassed Kira said, which only caused Chris to laugh more.

"Kira, when we get back, do you think Captain Ramius will let me borrow a shuttle?" Athrun asked, changing the conversation.

"Athrun?"

"I need to make a visit to the PLANTs. I need to speak to father about a lot of things."

Kira nodded. "I understand."

* * *

Lesseps Class, the Ares

ZAFT Victoria Base

A Few Days Later

"Admiral Thule! Incoming enemy contacts! They're mobile suits!"

"Scramble all mobile suits!" Admiral Thule ordered. "Intercept the enemy!"

They had come. Thule knew the Alliance would attack sooner or later. With the lose of Panama, it was inevitable. Though their decision to attack Orb had certainly surprised him. He never would have thought that the Alliance would get that desperate. But their attack had allowed them to regroup and gather at the two Mass Drivers they held. Just in case.

The Earth Forces won't find an easy battle. He had made sure of that. And they were prepared if need be, to destroy the Mass Driver rather than have them get their hands on it.

* * *

Spengler Class Carrier, the Enterprise

Waters near the Victoria Base

Clotho, Kevin, Orga and Shani silently powered up their machines.

"Now remember boys, don't fail this time." Azrael said over the comm.

The four Extended pilots simply nodded. They weren't going to fail again. They couldn't afford to. Moments later, they took off, heading for Victoria.

* * *

A group of BuCUEs fired at a squad of advancing Strike Daggers. Some of the Daggers fell, but most remained standing. "Come on!" the ZAFT squad leader shouted. "Let's show these Naturals who's bet-"

A beam tore through the BuCUE. The Massacre landed in front of the rest of the BuCUEs. Kevin roared, firing off missiles and beams at the remaining BuCUEs. Destroying them. The Dagger pilots let out a cheer. "See that men! That's how you deal with those damn Coordinators." an Earth Forces lieutenant said.

But Kevin was already gone, searching for more opponents.

Elsewhere, a wing of DINNs fired on Raider. But their bullets did nothing to the Raider's Trans Phase Armor. "Pests! You're all going down!" Clotho shouted, firing his railgun and beam cannon.

The beams and slugs made quick work of the ZAFT mobile suits.

A group of ZuOOTs fired on a trio of Daggers, destroying them. But out of the smoke, a trio of beams flew out. Hitting one of the mobile suits. The Calamity emerged from the smoke. "What the hell is that?!" one ZAFT pilot shouted.

"Who cares?! Destroy it!"

Suddenly, Orga fired his bazooka and shield cannon at the ZuOOTs as they tried to fire back. Those ZuOOTs that survived, managed to inflict no damage to the Calamity. "Sorry. That's not good enough!" Orga shouted before finishing them off.

The Forbidden sliced through a GINN as other GINNs fruitless fired their rifles at it. A CGUE fired it's beam rifle, hoping that he could destroy the Forbidden with it. But Shani lowered his shields, deflecting the beams into a GINN. The CGUE pilot was stunned by the sight of his beams hitting a comrade. Shani laughed as he fired his railguns at the CGUE.

* * *

The Alliance was winning. The remaining ZAFT Forces couldn't hold the base for much longer. Especially against those four new machines. They were just too powerful. There was only one option left for them. "Activate the bombs!" Thule ordered. "Destroy the Mass Driver!"

An officer nodded, keying in the first half of the self-destruct code for the Mass Driver. Thule typed in the second half of the code. "You may take Victoria. But like Orb, it will be a hollow victory!" he said, hitting the execute button...

...But nothing happened. The bombs on the Mass Driver didn't go off. Thule slammed his fist into the console in frustration. A commando team must have infiltrated the base ahead of the main attack force and disabled the bombs. There was no other explanation why the bombs hadn't detonated.

"All remaining mobile suits are to fire on the Mass Driver! We can't let the Alliance have it!"

But as if on cue, those four powerful mobile suits descended on the Mass Driver.

* * *

"You heard the order!" a CGUE pilot said. "We can't let the Mass Driver fall in their-"

A beam tore through the CGUE, silencing the pilot. The remaining pilots looked up. The Calamity was descending on the group. "Come on! We can't let that thing be destroyed!" Orga shouted, firing on the GINNs.

A trio of BuCUEs fired off a barrage of missiles at the Mass Driver. But all of the missiles were shot out of the air by a barrage of beams and bullets. Kevin turned to the mobile suits. "I'm not going back there! So die!!" he roared, targeting the BuCUEs.

A pair of GINNs, armed with Barrus heavy particle cannons, fired their weapons at the Mass Driver. But before they could hit their target, the Forbidden appeared and deflected the beams away from the Mass Driver.

"Not happening." he said, firing his railguns at the GINNs.

A group of DINNs soared down towards the Mass Driver and fired off their missiles. Suddenly, the Raider appeared, swinging it's heavy hammer in a circle in front of it. The missiles hit the Raider's makeshift shield and exploded. "Up! Down!" Clotho shouted, firing his Zorn cannon twice, destroying two of the DINNs.

"Left!" His hammer destroyed another.

"Right!" His railgun shot the forth DINN from the sky.

"A! B!!!" The beam cannon and railgun finished the final two off.

But Clotho didn't gloat over his victory. Instead, before the remains of the final DINNs hit the ground, he was off, attacking other ZAFT mobile suits that dared to threaten the Mass Driver. The four Extended fought fiercely. Like they had no tomorrow. Which, if they failed, was true.

* * *

Thule gritted his teeth. The Mass Driver was their's now. There was nothing he could do to change that today. "Sound the retreat!" he ordered. "The Ares, the Micheal Edwards and the Taurus will cover the retreat!"

"But Admiral-"

"Silence Brunt! We need to preserve the lives of as many ZAFT soldiers as we can!"

Several squads of Strike Daggers had now joined the four Earth Forces prototypes at the Mass Driver. Azrael's voice came over the comm. "Good work boys. The Strike Daggers will protect the Mass Driver now. But we can't let all of those Coordinators escape. Destroy them."

The four of them grinned as they took off for the core of the retreating ZAFT forces. The work was over. Now it was time some fun.

"Admiral! Those four machines are approaching!"

"All mobile suits! All batteries! Open fire on them!" Thule shouted. "Shoot them down!!"

The guns of the Lesseps class, it's two Petrie class escorts and the nearby mobile suits opened fire on the four. But the Extended pilots effortless dodged or blocked the worst of the shots and fired back. DINNs in the air were blown out of the sky. GINNs, BuCUEs and ZuOOTs on the ground were bombarded by their various weapons. "These guys are no fun." Shani complained.

"Who cares?" Clotho said as they continued towards the three land battleships. "They die all the same."

Kevin mowed down more GINNs when his beam Gatling guns ran out of power. He discarded them, drawing his beam sabers. The Massacre landed on the Taurus's main cannon, crushing it. The Taurus's bridge crew watched in horror as the Massacre turned towards the bridge. He swung his sabers down, slicing through the bridge tower. Kevin laughed as he continued his assault, his sabers tearing into the ship's hull.

"Admiral! The Taurus is dead!"

"Admiral! We must fall back!" Brunt shouted.

"No. Not until the others have retreated safely." Thule said. "We may have lost Victoria, but I will not leave until every soldier that can escape, has escaped!"

Suddenly, the Calamity jumped off the Raider, landing on the hull of the Rook. Orga aimed his energy bazooka at the bridge of the Rook. Brunt let out a scream and tried to run. But it was pointless. Thule knew that. They were already dead. The Calamity fired. "LONG LIVE ZAFT!!!" Thule defiantly shouted as the light reached them.

* * *

A Few Hours Later

Though Thule's dying efforts saved many ZAFT soldiers, many more of the soldiers had been unable to escape. And the Alliance soldiers were more than willing to emulate the actions of many ZAFT soldiers during the Panama attack.

Alliance personal were already cleaning up the base and preparing for it's first launch under the Earth Alliance's control. A jeep passed by the crew rushing to complete their work on time. Inside the jeep were Azrael and Captain Sutherland. Azrael was pleased. Very pleased. The Biological CPUs had finally proven their worth. And not only that, the Alliance had finally broken ZAFT's mobile suit supremacy. Everything was finally starting to slide into place.

"Well, I have to say that was quite an impressive victory, Captain Sutherland." Azrael said, complementing the commander of the attack on Victoria.

"It was the Strike Daggers and those four new machines of your's that won us this victory." Sutherland replied.

"Yes. Though I was quite worried that they weren't up to par after what happened to Orb."

"Indeed. I think the only reasons we had any difficulties at Orb was because of those unexpected machines you told me about."

Azrael nodded. "Considering we attacked them with the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre, and the Riader, I never expected to have that much difficulty. Orb is truly a wicked nation. I wonder what they could have been thinking."

"They probably thought that if they could played their cards right, they'd be sitting pretty. What a disgusting nation." Sutherland said. "I understand that a lot of their technology came from the PLANTs. Actually, now that I've had some time to think about it, it's possible that those two machines were made by ZAFT."

Azrael watched as the Raider, the Calamity, the Massacre and the Forbidden were loaded on cargo ship that would soon take them to the Ptolemaeus Crater Base on the Moon. "In either case, we'll need to do something about them. Perhaps even acquire one of them." he said as the jeep came to a stop.

"So that's why you're going into space." Sutherland commented.

Azrael stepped out of the vehicle. "Yes. After seeing them in action, I can't help but wonder. Could those two machines be nuclear powered?"

"You can't be serious." a stunned Sutherland said.

"I don't have any proof at the moment, but that much power isn't possible with current battery technology."

The two walked through the Mass Driver control building, heading for their shuttle. "Well, the Coordinators did develop the N-Jammers in first place." Sutherland said, thinking over the idea. "So it is possible that they could have developed a way to cancel out their effects. But if that were true, there could be serious consequences for us."

"Do you doubt me, the Director of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate?" Azrael asked as they reached the shuttle boarding ramp.

"No. Of course not." Sutherland quickly replied.

"Remember, we are the weaker creature here." Azrael explained. "In order to ensure our safety, we must keep the beast with fangs caged or on a lease."

"Yes. We can't let them run wild in space. Even if we were the ones who created them in the first place."

"I'll go and take care of them." Azrael said as they boarded the ship. "Permanently."

* * *

I'm gonna stop here. There were somethings I was going to add, but this chapter was getting a bit long. So that's for the next chapter.

Now, John's message was recorded days before the Orb invasion. So don't want people asking questions about it. Like, why didn't he say anything about trying to recruit her and the 11th Fleet.

As always, review!!!


	28. Phase Twenty Seven: Lacus Strikes

Yo everybody. Got another chapter for you all. And from the sound of it, a fair number of people have been waiting for this one. So enjoy.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ 'Panther'  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle, 1x beam saber, stored on the underside of the shield  
Pilot: Diana Kessel  
Color: Dark purple with black strips on the forearms and shins. White trim and a white roaring panther head on the right shoulder.  
Info: Diana's GuAIZ. Like the other GuAIZs, while it's capabilities have been improved over the normal GuAIZ, it's only a slight improvement compared to the level of improvements their GINNs had over normal GINNs.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ 'Tyr'  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle  
Pilot: Lucius Raveshaw  
Color: A rather plain dark green with gray trim. A black fist on the right shoulder. The right hand and forearm are painted black.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ 'Hyena'  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 2x beam claws, mounted on the forearms, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle  
Pilot: Ajay Cortez  
Color: Light brown with crimson claw marks on the forearms, shins and left shoulder of the machine. White teeth are painted along the area under the machine's monoeye and a trio of white teeth on the right shoulder

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ 'Bruticus'  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x M69 'Barrus' heavy particle cannon  
Pilot: Basque Gideon  
Color: Dark gray with black trim. A crimson fireball on the right shoulder.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ 'Lady Luck'  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle  
Pilot: Lisa DeCosta  
Color: Dark green with crimson trim. A pair of red stylized L's on the right shoulder..

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ Speartip Team  
Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle (Hilda), 1x 170mm anti-armor rocket-propelled grenade launcher (Mars), M68 'Cattus' 500mm recoilless rifle (Herbert)  
Pilot: Hilda Harken, Mars Simeon, Herbert Von Reinhardt  
Color: Black torso, hands, feet and head, dark purple shoulders, arms and legs. A black star on the right shoulder of each machine.

**Phase Twenty-Seven: Lacus Strikes**

The Archangel's Hanger

Athrun finished suiting up as his shuttle was being prepped for launch. It was small, single seat craft. With it, he would reach the PLANTs in a couple hours. Kira, Chris, Saul, Nicol and Dearka were there to see him off. "If anything happens to me, I want one of you guys to pilot the Justice." he said.

"No way. You're the only one for that mobile suit." Dearka replied.

"Yeah. I don't want use any other machine besides my Surge." Saul added.

Athrun turned to Nicol, who shook his head. "Sorry. But the Justice just isn't for me."

Finally, Athrun turned to Chris. "No. I'm not piloting a nuclear powered mobile suit." he said. "You and Kira can pilot those things, but I'm never gonna pilot one of those machines or any like them."

"Wait a minute!" someone called out.

Cagalli appeared, virtually tackling Athrun. "Why are you doing this? Why are you going back to the PLANTs?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier." Athrun answered.

"Sorry doesn't cut! What will happen if you don't return without that?" she shouted, pointing to the Justice.

"I'm leaving the Justice here. It's better this way." He explained. "Should worst comes to worst, Kira will take care of it."

"That isn't what I'm talking about!"

Athrun sighed. "I know, but I still have to do this."

Kira then came over and put his hand on her shoulder. "Cagalli, you know why he has to go."

Defeated, she nodded and stepped back.

A short while later, the shuttle took off and sped away. A minute after, the Freedom followed as escort. Whenever everything was done, the plan was to rendezvous with Athrun and both would return to the Archangel. All hands on board both ships nervously watched as both machines disappeared out of sight.

* * *

Patrick Zala's Office

Aprilius One

Patrick Zala sat inside his office and watched footage of the Earth Alliance's battle with Orb. Le Creuset had managed to record a portion of the battle as he returned to Carpentaria before returning to space.

The loss of Victoria had been a heavy blow. Though Thule had managed to save a portion of their forces stationed there, the loss of the Mass Driver to the Earth Forces was grave turn of events. Just when they had turned things in their favor again, those damn Naturals attacked Victoria. And with those accursed new mobile suits of their's, the PLANTs were once again in danger.

As he continued watching, Zala spoke with the Captain of their new warship, the Eternal. "Yes, that's right." He said. "Le Creuset returned less than an hour ago and had this information with him. I don't how or why the Freedom ended up at Orb. Athrun may know, but the little fool hasn't reported in yet."

"You did say that his mission was top secret." the man replied. "Needless communications is but one way information can be picked and leaked."

Zala shuddered. Leaked information had become the cause of many of his recent headaches. "The overconfident Naturals have been gathering at the moon. We need to crush them this time, completely." he said, changing the direction of the conversation.

"I understand. I shall give every effort to repay Your Excellency for giving me another chance at life."

* * *

Aboard the Vesalius

Armory One

"Well Miss, I think I found the reason you've been getting sick in mornings." the doctor said. "I believe congratulations are in order."

Flay's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't mean..."

"Yes. You're going to be a mother."

Flay felt an overwhelming tide of emotions as her subconsciously reached for her abdomen. She was going to have baby. She felt joy. Worry. Fear even. But mostly joy.

But then dread entered her mind. Had she found out a few weeks ago, she would have known instantly that Chris was the father. But after Panama... After Panama, she was Le Creuset's assistant by day and at night... She barely managed to suppress a shutter. She had heard some of rumors going around about her. And they weren't far off. She just wasn't his willing lover.

While she was overjoyed at the thought of having Chris's child, the thought of baring that man's child sickened her. But quickly realized that as much as the possibility of it being Rau's child sickened her, she wouldn't dare harm it. If it was _his _child, she would cross that bridge when and if she came to it. For now, all that mattered was ensuring the safety of her unborn child and trying to find a way back to Archangel.

* * *

The Vesalius's Hanger

Yzak wondered through the hanger as the crews worked on the new mobile suits that had been loaded onto the Vesalius. He walked pass his Duel and Zane's new mobile suit. Next to them was a second new mobile suit, identical to Zane's save that it was currently in the process of being painted purple, and a CGUE DEEP Arms. Shiho Hahnenfuss's CGUE DEEP Arms. Yzak was familiar Shiho and had met her a few times. She was skilled pilot.

Yzak stopped at the third new mobile suit. It was painted in the colors of a CGUE and a technician was working on it. "Is this the new model GuAIZ?" he asked.

"Yes, it's a new mass production type from MMI." the technician replied. "The assembly lines are all retooling for this guy. Once we get them rolling out, we'll stamp the Naturals out of space in no time."

Yzak doubted that. The new Earth Forces machines while inferior to his Duel, were more powerful than the rest of ZAFT's arsenal. And the Earth Forces could field a lot of those mobile suits. But then again, the GuAIZs had no doubt been made with the technology gained from the mobile suits from Heliopolis. He took another look at the machine and shrugged before walking off.

* * *

Outside Jachin Due

An Hour Later

Athrun's shuttle reached the defensive perimeter surrounding the space fortress of Jachin Due. He and Kira had already parted ways and Kira now waited at the rendezvous point. A group of GINNs moved in to intercept his craft. He switched to a ZAFT communication channel. "This is operative Athrun Zala of the National Defense Committee." He said. "My identification number is 285002. Jachin Due Defense Forces, please respond."

The squad of GINNs slowed but didn't stop. They quickly surrounded the shuttle. Ready to destroy it if he did anything remotely suspicious.

_'So far so good.' _Athrun thought. _'I hope I haven't made a big mistake in coming here.'_

* * *

Patrick Zala's Office

Patrick Zala looked over the data of what he planned to be his ultimate weapon in the war against the Naturals. The appropriately named GENESIS. For it would be the genesis of the Age of the Coordinator. It was already in the final phase of its construction and would be operational shortly thereafter. His intercom buzzed and he pressed the receiver. "Yes, what is it?"

"Operative Athrun Zala has arrived at Jachin Due, sir. He was piloting an Earth Forces shuttle."

This was a shock for Patrick. At very least, Athrun should be in the Justice. Not an Earth Forces shuttle. Something had happened. Something he knew he wasn't going to like.

"Given the circumstances, he's being detained at this moment." the officer added.

"Bring him here at once." Patrick ordered before turning off the intercom. He had many questions for Athrun.

A short while later, Athrun was escorted into his father's office, flanked by two guards. Once they arrived, the guards saluted the Chairman.

Patrick said nothing at first. He sighed and stood up. "Guards, leave us."

Once the guards left, Patrick looked at his son and continued. "What's happened? Where are the Justice and the Freedom?"

"I know where they are both are. They are intact and safe." Athrun answered. "But I need to ask you something father. What direction are you planning to take this war?"

"What?!" Patrick demanded. "What sort of absurd question is that?! What about your mission?! That's what you need to report on!"

"The reason I've returned is because I needed to speak with you directly." Athrun said. "I'm talking about what happened at Alaska, Panama, and Victoria. You attack because you're attacked and then you're attacked again because you attacked. All the while, war and suffering continues. How much longer will this drag on?! How many more will have to die?!"

"Where did you get such ideas?!" Patrick shouted. "Did Clyne and his daughter get inside your head?! Meeting force with a great force is just what we need to win!"

"But how far are you willing to go?"

"Once every last Natural is dead, that is when this war comes to an end."

Athrun was stunned to say the least. "What did you say? Do you really mean that you plan on killing all the Naturals?"

"Of course!" Patrick yelled as he grabbed Athrun by the collar. "That's been our goal from the start! Now where are the Justice and the Freedom."

"Father, do you really mean what you just said about killing all the Naturals?"

"That's the whole point of this war! That's why we're fighting this war! Have you forgotten that?!" Patrick shouted, throwing him to the ground.

The next moment, Patrick pulled out his sidearm and aimed at Athrun. "You're pathetic! Stop giving me that garbage and answer me! Where are the Freedom and the Justice?!"

Athrun glared at him but didn't answer. "If you refuse to answer, I'll have you arrested as a traitor!"

But Athrun still didn't answer. His father reached for his intercom and called in a group of military police. They surrounded him and aimed their rifles at him. This whole thing had been a big mistake. He never should have come back. His father was locked into his path. Nothing he could say would change that. Suddenly, Lord Uzumi's words echoed through his mind.

"_The Earth Forces' present actions are being guided by the leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael. To make matters worse, the PLANTs are led by someone who believes Coordinators are a new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now. The way things are developing, the world will soon be trapped between two forces who refuse to accept each others' existence."_

As much as he hated to admit it. His father was one of people driving this war on. He got to his feet. What he did next, surprised everyone. Himself included. Athrun lunged at his father. A shot rang out. Athrun fell to the ground, the bullet having grazed his right shoulder.

"Don't kill him. There is still information we need from him." Patrick ordered. "Arrest him and use whatever techniques necessary to pry information on the Freedom and the Justice out of him. I'm very disappointed, Athrun."

The soldiers pulled Athrun up and slapped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists "As am I father."

* * *

The guards dragged Athrun outside the government building, where a van was waiting. But he wasn't about to let them lock him up. He kicked one of the guards and tackled the other before running off. To Athrun's surprise, one of guards followed, firing at the other soldiers and throwing flashbangs. The pair rounded a corner of the building. "Turn your back to me so I can shoot the handcuffs." the soldier ordered.

Athrun complied and his handcuffs were removed. "You're being too reckless." the soldier said, handing him a pistol. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You even got one of my guys."

"Sorry about that. But who are you?" Athrun asked.

"I'm with what they're calling the Clyne Faction." the soldier replied. "And you need to be more careful. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Sorry."

At that moment, the second soldier he had hit appeared, firing his rifle. "Come on DeCosta! We need to get out of here!"

DeCosta nodded and turned to Athrun. "Come on!"

* * *

The Eternal

Inside a ZAFT Hanger

Commander Andrew Waltfeld glanced at his pocketwatch and smiled. DeCosta should have recovered the kid by now and heading to meet up with them. Now it was time for phase two of their plan. Andy picked up the phone in his chair's arm, switching to the ship's intercom. "This is Commander Waltfeld. The ship is now entering it's final preparations. I repeat, the ship is entering it's _final preparations_."

All across the ship, the Clyne supporters amongst the ship's crew quickly gathered up those that weren't and kicked them out as others rushed to bring the Eternal's systems online.

Moments later, Lacus Clyne entered the bridge. "Sorry I'm late." she said as she sat in the command chair.

"No worries. As long as you're safe." Andy replied. "Shall we be heading out now?"

Lacus nodded. "Yes."

"Loading departure plan C, forced exit subroutine one nine two zero online."

"Adding logic array, security is disengaged. All systems go."

Suddenly, the frantic calls dockmaster filled the bridge. "Commander Waltfeld! What's going on?! You don't have clearance to launch!"

"Sir. They changed the codes to the main gate."

"Those people are so clever." Waltfeld said mockingly. "They should've left it as it was."

He turned to Lacus. "Our exit is gonna be a bit rougher now. So brace yourself."

"We have no other choice, since we must go." Lacus replied.

"Prepare to fire the main cannon! Target the main gate!" Andy ordered. "Fire immediately after take off!"

"Eternal, please launch." Lacus said.

The Eternal's engines fired up, propelling the ship forward. Moments later, the Eternal's main cannon fired, destroying the gate and providing them with a way out.

"Where's DeCosta?"

At that very moment, a two-man shuttle raced through hanger, heading for the Eternal. "Commander we're were." Martin said as he pulled the shuttle alongside the Eternal.

"DeCosta, move to the rear hatch." Andy ordered. "Once they're on board, get the ship up to maximum speed!"

Once the shuttle safely landed on board, the Eternal reached it's maximum speed. Outrunning all of their pursers. But there was one last hurdle before they could consider their escape successful. Jachin Due and it's defense forces which would be waiting for them.

* * *

The Odin

Near Jachin Due

"Commander, orders from HQ." the comm officer said. "The Eternal has been stolen from Armory One. Chairman Zala is ordering that all available ZAFT forces to intercept and destroy the Eternal."

Diana Kessel nodded. "Bring the ship to Level One Battlestations! Get the GuAIZs ready for launch! Bring the fleet into position to flank the as the Jachin Due defense forces move into intercept!"

"Commander! The Eternal is sending out a message to all ZAFT forces!"

"Let's hear it."

"Hello. My name is Lacus Clyne. Although I have become enemies with Chairman Zala because we hope for different futures, I do not intend to fight against you. Please let our ship go. And I also ask each one of you to think about what we really should be fighting against."

"You're orders sir?" a bridge officer asked.

This was wrong. What they were doing was wrong. The ZAFT she had once known was slipping away more and more each day. It had to stop. "Prep my mobile suit for launch." Diana ordered. "I will not follow Zala's orders any longer. But I will not force the rest of you into betraying ZAFT. All I ask is that you give me a head start."

No one on the bridge moved.

"No ma'am." Lucius replied. "I speak for everyone when I say, we'll not follow your order."

"Then arrest me." she said. "I will not fire on that ship or follow that man's orders."

"We're not going to arrest you either."

"But-"

"Ma'am, again I speak for everyone when I say, to hell with our orders and to hell with Patrick Zala."

For the briefest of moments, her normally cold demeanor dropped as a slight smile spread across her lips. "Thank you." she whispered under her breath.

Then the smile dropped. "What are you waiting for then?! Bring the Fleet closer to the Eternal! Scramble all mobile suits! We're protecting the Eternal!" she ordered. "I don't want a single mobile suit to get within striking distance of that ship! And do not fire until I give signal! Is that clear?!"

"Yes ma'am." came the chorus of replies as the bridge crushed rushed to carry out her orders.

"Will you still be going out as well, ma'am?"

"Of course. You have the bridge Lee."

Minutes later, all of the mobile suits of the 11th Fleet were launched, heading for the Eternal. The ZAFT forces heading for the Eternal, let out a cheer. "Those traitors are done for now!" one GINN pilot shouted.

"Yeah! No way they can escape the 11th Fleet!" another said.

"Damn. The 11th Fleet." Andy said. "This isn't going to be easy."

"We're being hailing by the 11th Fleet." DeCosta said.

"Put it through. Let's hope that Miss Kessel will listen."

The cockpit of Diana's GuAIZ appeared on the main screen.

"Eternal. This is Commander Diana Kessel of the 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet." Diana said. "We have been ordered to destroy you. However, we can no longer willing follow Patrick Zala's orders. The entire 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet is at your disposal, Miss Clyne, Commander Waltfeld."

The rest of the ZAFT forces and most of the Eternal's crew were stunned by this announcement. Both Andy and Lacus smiled. "It looks like we may just make it after all." Andy said as the colored GuAIZs formed a defensive ring around the Eternal.

"ZAFT forces, withdraw now and you will escape with your lives." Diana said to all the advancing ZAFT mobile suits. "If not, we will slaughter you all."

The ZAFT forces were in a state of panic and disarray. ZAFT's own propaganda worked against them in this case. They made the 11th Fleet out to be a dreaded, unbeatable fighting force within their military. Added to this was the recent events at Panama, where the 11th Fleet had attacked their fellow soldiers in the defense of the Naturals, left no doubt in their minds that they weren't bluffing. As a result of this, many ZAFT soldiers started fleeing the battlefield in fear, rather than face the unbeatable 11th Fleet in battle. But many more stayed, forcing the 11th Fleet to battle their, now former, comrades in arms.

"Damn you, Patrick Zala, for forcing us to do this." Diana said. "All forces, engage the ZAFT forces. Try to avoid the cockpit if you can. But do not let them near the Eternal!"

The 11th Fleet snapped into action, attacking the ZAFT forces like men and women possessed. The Odin and it's sister ships fired their cannons as did the Eternal. Many GINNs lost heads and limbs to the GuAIZs of the 11th Fleet. Sadly, many more were destroyed. But even then, there were too many mobile suits for the 11th Fleet to hold back. GINNs armed with missile launchers flew past the GuAIZs, heading for the Eternal. "Stop them!" Diana shouted as she blew a GINN's head off.

But it was too late. A barrage of missiles were fired. All of the heading for the Eternal. The Eternal fired it's anti-missile countermeasures, but there were too many for them to stop. And a number of the missiles continued for the vessel.

At that moment, perfectly aimed beams tore through the missile. Destroying every missile. Everyone turned to the source of the beams.

It was the Freedom.

With the missiles destroyed, Kira turned his attention to the ZAFT forces. He fired. His perfectly aimed shots tore through the weapons, limbs and heads of ZAFT mobile suits. Leaving only the mobile suits of the 11th Fleet untouched. "Whoa...That was amazing..." Ajay said as he surveyed the area.

"Indeed." Lucius agreed. "I've never seen such power."

"Cut the chatter." Diana ordered. "The Eternal is safe. Everyone, return to the ships."

The GuAIZs all returned to the Odin and it's sister ships. The Freedom pulled alongside the Eternal as the Nazca-class warships tailed the pink vessel.

Kira opened a comm channel to the Eternal. "Kira Yamato here." he said as his face appeared on the Eternal's main screen.

Lacus smiled. "Kira."

"Hey there youngster. You saved us." Andy said with a grin of his own.

The sight of a former adversary who he had thought was dead, was beyond a little stunning. "Mr. Waltfeld?"

* * *

And that's all for today. Now I'm not going to say who the father is. So don't even think about bugging me about that. I will reveal that it is a boy. But other than that, you'll all have to wait for Destiny.

Next up Mendel and all it's dark secrets. I'm gonna enjoy that. As always, please review!


	29. Phase 28: What Stands In The Way

Yo everybody. I would have had this chapter done a few days ago, but I was suffering from a cold. And it's hard to write when you're sick. But on with the show.

**Phase Twenty-Eight: What Stands In The Way**

An Apartment Complex

Aprilius One

"Ian, I want some answers. And I want them now." Admiral Rebbecca Kessel demanded. "It was bad enough when Saul went missing and you were forced to go on the run. But now our daughter and her entire Fleet have betrayed ZAFT. What is going on here?"

Ian sighed. "Siegal Clyne is dead."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Zala's men murdered him."

"There's been no reports of Siegal's death. How do you know that?" his wife asked.

"Because I saw the aftermath..."

_A group of ZAFT soldiers stood guard in front a seemingly normal house. The only difference between this house and the house next to it, was the bullet holes in the front of the house and the bloodbath inside._

_A black car pulled up to the house. A man with dark brown hair, wearing a black suit and sunglasses entered stepped out of the car. "Agent Birkin, Justice Department." he said, flashing his ID. "What happened?"_

"_We got a tip that the Clynes and their supporters were hiding out in this residence." a ZAFT Lieutenant replied. "We were dispatched to investigate and arrest the Clynes if they were here. But they opened fire on us and we were forced to defend ourselves."_

"_Show me." the agent emotionlessly replied._

_The lieutenant led him into the house. Inside, was a massacre. Blood and bulletholes were everywhere. Just over a dozen bodies, covered with tarps, laid on the ground. "In the end, there was only one Clyne here. And we took care of him for resisting." the lieutenant said with a smirk as he uncovered the body furtherest from the door._

_It was Seigal Clyne. He was dead. His body riddled with bulletholes._

"_You fools!" Birkin cursed. "You were suppose to take him alive!"_

"_Bah. So what? They would have killed him anyway. We just saved them the time of giving him a trail before the firing squad."_

"_Idiot! You were told to take him alive in case Lacus wasn't with him! Do you know why?!"_

"_Ah-"_

"_Because he would know where Lacus is!" Birkin shouted. "Now, thanks to you morons, we have no leads and no idea where Lacus Clyne is! And now I have to explain to my superiors and the Chairman why we have no more leads."_

_Before the lieutenant could say anything, he stormed out of the house and headed for his car. Birkin started it up and sped off. A few minutes later, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number._

"_DeCosta here." a voice said over the phone._

"_It's me." Ian replied. "Seigal's dead."_

"Seigal wasn't caught in the crossfire. I could understand that. His body was littered with dozens of bullets. They had executed him. And the way that man talked about it... This is what Patrick Zala has done to ZAFT. He's turned them into a group of Natural hating thugs."

Rebbecca sighed. She hated politics. They always caused too many problems for soldiers like her. As far as she was concerned, the military and politics should never mix. "And Diana?"

"If I had to say, she's simply doing what she believes in. Apparently, she believes that ZAFT no longer fits her beliefs and has left to join a group that does. And I have to agree with her." Ian replied. "It's changed under Zala's rule. And not for the better."

* * *

Archangel-class Assault Ship, the Dominion

Near the Ptolemaeus Crater Base

"Sensors are detecting something! Distance 500, Orange 14 Mark 233 Alpha. Large heat source approaching! Looks like a warship class."

"Stand by for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat!" the Dominion's Captain ordered. "Starboard 10, lower bow, pitch angel 15! Activate Igelstellungs! Target enemy warship! Load missile launchers one through four with Korinthos! Valiants! Fire!!"

The Bridge crew rushed to fulfill their tasks. But they were all green and weren't fast enough to finish in time. And the simulation ended with the Dominion's destruction.

"What the hell are guys doing?!" a very annoyed Natarle Badgiruel shouted, chewing out her bridge crew. "You're responding much too slowly! At this rate, we'll be destroyed in our first battle!"

This was the third simulation in row they had failed and she was beginning to become very angry at their lack of success. Even the children from Heliopolis were better than this.

"Captain. We have an incoming message from the fleet headquarters." the comm officer said. "Hold position for incoming shuttle and mobile suits."

Natarle glanced out the window. A group of mobile suits led by a shuttle, was approaching the ship. Most of the mobile suits were Strike Daggers, but there were four that clearly weren't. Those four reminded Natarle of the G-Weapons from Heliopolis and she assumed they were the next generation of those mobile suits.

"Open the hanger hatches." she ordered.

A short while later, after the shuttle and the mobile suits had boarded the Dominion, Captain Bernard of the Ptolemaeus Base, a blond haired man in a blue suit and four pilots in odd flightsuits, stepped onto the bridge.

"I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of a simulation." Bernard said.

"It was no problem at all sir." Natarle replied as she and the bridge crew saluted.

Bernard returned the salute. "Allow me to introduce you to Director Muruta Azrael of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate. I'm sure you've heard the name before."

Natarle nodded. She was familiar with the man's name. He was after all the head of the largest weapons manufacturer for the Atlantic Federation and the Earth Alliance.

"He will be joining you aboard this ship as an observer of the four state of the art mobile suits that have been onto the ship."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Captain." Azrael drawled.

"Lieutenant Commander Natarle Badgiruel."

"I must admit, I never expected the Captain of this ship to be this young and beautiful." Azrael said before turning to Captain Bernard. "Is this some sort of added benefit?"

"Not to worry. She is very skilled." the Captain replied. "Her family has a long history of military service. In addition, prior to her posting here, she served as the first officer of the Archangel."

Arzael was impressed by this. "So you're very familiar with the Archangel then." he said. "That will be very useful. Since our mission is to hunt down and sink the Archangel."

* * *

Inside the Mendel Colony's Harbor

Several Hours Later

"Captain! Four incoming warships!" Sai shouted. "Three Nazca-class and one unknown!"

"Scramble all-"

"Hold it." John said, interrupting her. "They may just be passing through here and not even know we're here. Rushing in isn't wise. Get us a visual first."

The lead ship was a pink vessel that was unlike anything they had seen before. But the other three were a familiar sight. The three painted Nazca-class warship of ZAFT's 11th Fleet. John took a sip of coffee through a straw. "Well now. This is interesting." he commented.

"Captain! Incoming transmission."

"Let's hear it." Murrue said.

Kira's voice came over the comm. "Archangel, Kusanagi, this is Kira Yamato. These ships are not our enemies. Please stand down."

John laughed. "Wow! Those two are something else! They leave with a shuttle and a mobile suit and come back with four warships!"

A short while later, the four ships entered the hanger alongside the Archangel and Kusanagi. The bridge crews of both vessels and some of their mobile suit pilots had gathered inside a docking passage. Waiting to meet the crews of the newcomers. The doors opened and group of mostly ZAFT officers entered. At the head of the group was...

"Andy! You magnificent bastard!" John shouted in joy. "I should have known you were too stubborn to die that easily!"

Both men laughed as they shook hands. At that moment, a portion of the ZAFT officers saluted John. "Commander. It is good to see you again." a black haired woman said.

John returned the salute. "Same here. And I see that you're the same as always, Ice Queen."

Waltfeld turned to Murrue. "Would it be out of line to say it's a pleasure to finally meet you all face to face? I'm Andrew Waltfeld."

"Commander Diana Kessel. 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet." Diana added.

"Murrue Ramius." Murrue said. "I must admit, I am quite surprised you all here."

"Same here." Andy replied, turning to Kira and Lacus. "Right youngster?"

"You have a very good reason to want me dead." Kira solemnly said.

"We're in a war." Waltfeld commented. "Everyone has a reason, yet no one does."

Kira nodded his head. "Thank you."

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

A Short While Later

Dearka, Saul, and Nicol hadn't gone with the others to meet the crews of the newly arrived warships. Instead, they had opted to remain behind to do a maintenance check on their machines before going out to help the Astray pilots with gathering the supplies from Mendel. "So who do you think the newcomers are?" Nicol asked as he climbed out of the Neo Blitz's cockpit and floated down to his teammates.

"Don't know." Dearka replied. "Heard they're from ZAFT though."

"You think Yzak's with them?" Nicol asked.

"Doubt it. If he was, he would have come here by now." Saul said. "Probably a bunch of hot shot pilots that think they're all that."

"Hello Saul." a voice said from directly behind Saul, sending a shiver up his spine.

Saul slowly turned around. Coming face to face with his sister Diana. "Er...Hello sis."

"It's good to see you again Saul." she said before her fist hit his stomach.

Saul stumbled back in the zero-g environment, hitting the Neo Blitz's foot. "And if you ever do that again, you better be dead. Because otherwise, I'll hunt you down and make you wish you had died. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Saul instantly answered.

Diana nodded and left the trio. "Damn. That woman's scary." Dearka said as soon as she was safely out of the hanger.

Both Nicol and Saul could only nod their heads in agreement.

* * *

"To think that she managed to escape with something like this ship and three Nazca-class ships. She's really something." Cagalli commented, staring at the Eternal with Athrun.

"Yeah." he said as Cagalli glanced at Kira and Lacus together in another catwalk.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked. "She is your fiancée, right?"

"Ex-fiancée." Athrun replied. "Because I was such a fool."

Cagalli shrugged. "Well, better to realize that now than never." she said, a smile forming on her lips. "And I think Kira is just as much a fool. I guess even Coordinators can do stupid things. So we might as well get use to it."

"You think so? I guess you're right.

The two glanced up again at Kira and Lacus.

"My father... He's dead Kira..." Lacus said to Kira, finally releasing tears and sorrow she had held in since she learned of her father's death.

She hugged Kira and cried into her chest. Kira simply hugged her back. This war had claimed many loved ones already. Flay's father. Those people on the shuttle. Waltfeld's lover. Tolle. Cagalli's father. And now Lacus's father. It had to stop before more loved ones were killed. They had to stop it.

Chris watched the two groups from further down one of the catwalks. He sighed. He missed Flay and watching them only made it worse. But she was safe on Earth at least. He didn't have to worry about her safety.

* * *

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Aisha." John said, taking a sip of coffee.

Andy silently sipped his own coffee. "She chose to stay in the cockpit after I told her to get out." he finally said. "I guess she wanted to be with me regardless of the outcome."

John nodded before taking another sip. "She was a good woman. And loved you dearly. Had this war never happened, I suppose the two of you would have gotten married by now."

"Probably. I had considered proposing to her. But with the war going on, I felt like it wasn't the right time."

"Excuse me sirs." Diana said, approaching the pair.

"Ah Diana. Have you met with your brother yet?" John asked as he turned to her.

"Yes sir."

"So how many times did you hit him?"

"Only once." she replied.

"Only once? Don't tell me you're going soft on me." John teased.

"No sir. Won't dream of it, sir."

"And stop with all this sir stuff. We're over the same rank now. So there's now need for that."

"Sorry sir."

John hung his head in comedic manner and sighed as Andy laughed. "Somethings never change." John muttered. "So any reason why you came by?"

"I wanted to ask when you'd be transferring back to the Odin and taking command of the Fleet sir." Diana answered.

John shrugged. "That eager to relinquish command? That's not sign of a good officer."

"Perhaps. But the 11th Fleet has always been your Fleet sir. You practically built it from the ground up. You're the only one that should be commanding it sir."

"Well then, I guess it's time for me to take command once more."

* * *

_Flay wondered the corridors of the Archangel. But this wasn't a pleasant walk through the halls. Blood and bodies filled the corridors. The bodies of the crew of the Archangel. Chief Murdoch. Dr. Hunnicutt. And many more people that she knew lined the halls._

_But they all couldn't be dead. Someone had to still be alive. She continued to search the ship for someone, anyone that was still alive. Eventually she found herself on the bridge._

_But it wasn't any different from the rest of the ship._

_Captain Ramius sat in her chair, her lifeless eyes staring out into space. Blood puring down from wounds on her face and chest. Kuzzey was sprawled over his console. His face locked in an expression of terror. Below in the CIC, Miriallia was lying half on the ground, in a pool of blood. Next to her was Sai. His broken glasses on the verge of slipping off his face. Natarle was there as well. Slumped on her chair and like the others, blood pouring from numerous wounds._

_Suddenly, the sounds of battle filled her ears, distracting her from the horrors around her. She turned to the large bridge window. The Raven and the Strike battled two mobile suits she had never seen before. One was black and red. Armed with a number of heavy weapons. The other was dark gray and didn't engage them that much. Only firing the occasional shot from it's rifle._

_The black and red machine fired it's two hand carried cannons at the Strike. The Strike raised it's shield. But the multi-phase beams destroyed the Strike's shield and the arm holding it, as well as it's right leg. And he continued to fire on the Strike. Obliterating the white and blue mobile suit._

"_Kira..." a horrified Flay whispered._

_Then Kira's murderer turned to the Raven. It repeatedly fired it's cannons at the Raven. But the Raven transformed into it's mobile armor mode. In that state, it was too fast and maneuverable. It dodged the shots and flew in close to the mobile suit. The Raven transformed back and before his opponent could react, sliced through it's chest with his beam sabers. The black and red mobile suit exploded._

_But as soon as the fireball died out, the gray mobile suit attacked, releasing a number of strange funnel shaped objects from it's backpack. The funnels surrounded the Raven, firing beams at it. The Raven tried to avoid the beams. But they were coming from all directions. He dodged one shot, but another shot blew off it's left arm. Another tore through it's right wing. It's head exploded. It's right leg was severed at the shin. The Raven's railgun was destroyed. By the end, the Raven was completely helpless._

_Then the funnels all at once, fired at the Raven's torso._

"_NOOOOOOOO!!!"_

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Flay screamed as she shot up.

Her breathing was heavy and frantic. She was in Creuset's quarters. Thankfully, she was alone. But it had all been a nightmare. The Archangel and everyone on board was still alive. Chris was still alive.

She pulled out the dog tags Chris had given her, from underneath her undershirt and held it in her hands. Chris told her that as long as she wore it, she would be safe. But for the first time wonder, if they were protecting her, what about Chris? He was the one out there fighting. Risking his life. He needed more than she did. She should have refused it, so he would still have it. "Please." she whispered. "Please. I don't care how this war ends. So long as Chris and I are together again after it's all over."

* * *

The Archangel's Bridge

The Next Day

"As some of you already know, this colony was scrapped before the war because of a biohazard incident years earlier." Samuel explained to the gathered group of people from the Archangel, the Eternal, the Kusanagi and the 11th Fleet.

Mu nodded. "Yeah. I remember that incident. It caused quite a stir."

"But because of that, it has received only minimal damage and pirates and the like have avoided it out of fear of being exposed to what caused the biohazard in the first place." Samuel continued. "So this place is ideal for us to use as a base for now."

"Our immediate concern is the moon. From what we've heard, the Earth Forces have been continually sending from Victoria since they took it back." Lacus said.

"That can only mean one thing, they're planning an all out attack on the PLANTs." John added, now wearing his old Commander's uniform with his black leather trenchcoat over top.

"You think they'd actually do that?" Murrue asked.

"Of course. Their forces are full of people who have always wanted to do that." Andrew replied. "For the preservation of our blue and pure world."

"Let's not start that." Mu said in an annoyed tone.

"Hey. They're not my words. Though I can't see how getting rid of all the Coordinators will lead to a pure world. Hell, I don't even know what a pure world is."

"Then there's Patrick Zala and those that think like him in the PLANTs. They believe that because of the superior abilities of Coordinators, they are the new and superior race of humanity. And Naturals are nothing but vermin compared to them." John added as Cagalli left the bridge. "As Lord Uzumi said, neither side will tolerate the other to exist."

"We live in such a cruel time." Murrue said, leaning onto Mu.

Mu nodded. "Yeah."

"No. This isn't a cruel time for humanity. It's actually fairly normal." John said. "Look at our past. Just about every war, every conflict, has, in the end, been like this. Two groups of people unable to tolerate each other for whatever reason and descending into violence. That's the flawed nature of humanity. People tend not to like people that aren't like them."

"But it has always been we humans who do this and who stop this. Throughout history there have been many people who feel the way we do." Lacus said as she placed a hand on Kira's shoulder. "Wouldn't it be great to create a world where fighting is not necessary?"

Kira smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

Athrun stared out into the Mendel Colony's harbor. His thoughts were on everything that had recently happened at the PLANTs with his father. He had hoped that he could have reasoned with his father. Convince him to find a way to end this war peacefully. But he wouldn't listen and instead, threatened him and shot him.

"I finally found you." Cagalli said, pulling him away from his thoughts. "I bet your mind's going around in circles, getting nowhere. That's why you need to discuss what's on your mind with everyone. When we gather for meetings, you should be there too."

"Sorry."

Cagalli glanced at his arm brace. "Does it hurt?"

"Ah, no." he lied.

"What are you talking about? Of course it hurts. You were shot by your own father."

"I couldn't stop him. I realized it for the first time. I was totally powerless. And I didn't understand a thing." he admitted to her.

"Everyone feels that way. Those who think they understand are only fooling themselves." Cagalli shot back.

"Cagalli..."

"It's still too early to give up on your father. You may still have the chance to talk to him properly. So stop standing around alone looking so hesitant and-"

Athrun interrupted her by hugging her with his good arm. He didn't know why, he just felt like doing it. "Sorry."

"Wh-What do you mean, sorry?" Cagalli stuttered as she tried half-heartedly to break free of the embrace.

"Well, like I said. Sorry."

* * *

The Vesalius

"This is the Eternal's projected course, calculated from the data we received from Jachin Due." Rau explained to Ades and the gathered pilots.

"The L4 Colony Group. As expected. We continue to have problems there. First it was dealing with those suspicious people hiding out there, and now this." Ades said.

"I can't imagine the Clyne Faction would be this organized. When did they get the desire to fight? And a number of our forces have defected to their side. We should expect anything." Rau said.

"I've personally met both Commander Waltfeld and Commander Kessel before. I never would have expected this from either of them." Ades commented.

"He's a war hero who miraculously made it back alive after an encounter with the legged ship and it's mobile suits. And she was the former student and successor to one of the best space commanders we had. Who would have expected this from them?" Rau replied.

"It's too bad we have to get involved with this mess." Ades said with as sigh.

"Yes. But it can't be helped. Things seldom go as you plan. It's not an easy thing to try and understand, the thoughts hidden within one's heart." the masked commander said.

"Yzak. From now on, Athrun is your enemy. Can you shoot him down?" Rau asked his white haired subordinate.

"Of course! I'll shoot down any traitor!" Yzak sharply replied.

* * *

Le Creuset's Quarters

A Short While Later

Rau collapsed into the chair behind his desk. Drained. Flay moved to the side of the desk. For the first time since she was first captured by him, she felt concern for him. Of course, that was probably more because she was worried about what would happen to her and her unborn child if something happened to him. "You're exhausted." she commented.

"I'm only human, my dear." the masked man replied.

"I've spent much of my life as a soldier, going from one battlefield to another." Le Creuset added. "If you say it's because I'm a soldier, I have no argument. But no one is ever born into this world a soldier."

The words struck a nerve within Flay. She remembered her previous life. Before the attack on Heliopolis. She had been a pampered teenager with a doting, wealthy father. She once had lived a life in relative luxury. But that was all gone. Now she was a POW and a mother to be. And yet, aside from her father, she didn't miss any of what she once had. That life now seemed almost completely alien to her.

"I'd like nothing more than to put an end to that forever. And wouldn't you?" he said, pulling out a disk from the drawer. "I hold the final key, but if it stays here then the final door will never be opened. I wish there was something I could do about it."

Flay gazed at the disk, wondering what secrets it held. Wondering how it could be the key to ending the war. And if she should truly believe what he said.

* * *

The Dominion

"Clotho Buer. Enhancement implants, stage three. Biological CPU for the X-370. All personal data deleted."

"Kevin Hunter Jr. Stage four enhancement implants. Biological CPU for the X-151. No personal data."

"Orga Sabnak. Biological CPU for the X-131. Stage two enhancements. Also no personal data."

"Shani Andras. Stage four. Biological CPU for the X-252. No personal data."

Natarle shook her head. She had been curious about those four pilots Azrael had brought on board. There was something... off about them. They didn't seem to be normal soldiers. Then there was the extra medical personal that had come on board and taken over one of the med bays. But just looking them up in the ship's records led to only more questions. "All four are classified as equipment. Not pilots." she commented.

It didn't make sense. Why were they be listed as 'Biological CPUs' for their mobile suits? Why were their personal records deleted? Was that how Azrael and her higher ups saw these pilots? Just equipment?

"How much longer before we get to L4?" Azrael asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"We're almost there." Natarle replied. "But I'm still not convinced that we should be going there without any proof."

"My sources are accurate. And that's all the proof we need. It's not as if we're going there based on nothing."

"But you can't trust information from the PLANTs! It could be a trap!" Natarle argued.

Truthfully, she did not wish to fight Captain Ramius and the rest of her former crew members aboard the Archangel. But she had no choice in the matter.

"The Freedom and the Justice. They're the codenames of the two machines we're after. And they're sending five Nazca-class vessels to L4 after them. If the information is true, we can't afford to miss this chance. That's why we're going." Azrael leaned on her chair's display screen and continued. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. You may be the captain assigned to command this ship. But there are people higher up that have to look at the larger picture here. You've been told to do as I say, right? Just make sure you don't forget that."

* * *

And that's all for now. Finally, the battle of Mendel can begin. Along with the secrets of Mendel. I can't wait. As always, review!


	30. Phase Twenty Nine: Spiral of Encounters

Yo everybody. Before I start, I wish to speak to exia00. Though I allow anonymous reviews, when it comes to things like OC suggestions, I require reviews of FanFiction members. So I can respond to them. As a result, I will not even hear you OC out until you become a member and I can send you PMs when I need to.

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-600 GuAIZ

Unit Type: Customized general purpose mobile suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery

Armament: 2x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head, 1x MA-MV03 composite shield, features dual beam claw on tip, mounted on left arm, 2x EEQ7R extensional arrestor, mounted on back, can be fired out on a line, 1x MA-M21G beam rifle

Pilot: Zane Scirocco

Color: Entirely blood red

**Phase Twenty-Nine: Spiral of Encounters**

The Dominion

Near the Mendel Colony

Natarle sat in her command chair, completely focused on what was coming. She glanced out the bridge windows at the Dominion's escorts. Two Agememnon-class warships. The Washington and the Luther. Even with the two additional warships, Natarle knew this was going to be a difficult battle. She won't admit it to anyone, but she did not want to go after the Archangel. She'd rather that Azrael's information turn out to be false.

"Captain. Detecting one Archangel-class, one Izumo-class, three Nazca-class and one unknown within the harbor."

"Wow. You would have guess that they would have gathered so many allies in such a short time." Azrael commented.

"Bring the ship to Level One Battlestations." Natarle ordered. "Inform the Luther and the Washington to do the same. But do not fire until I give the order. Bring us to harbor."

* * *

The Archangel

"Captain! Two Agememnon-class warships and one unknown approaching!" Sai said.

"Bring the ship to Level One Battestations!" Murrue ordered. "Do we have a visual yet?"

"Yes ma'am." Sai replied, putting the image of the main screen.

To everyone's surprise, the lead vessel was the Archangel. Or rather, a second ship of the Archangel class. Aside from a darker color scheme and a slightly altered radar arrays, it was identical to the Archangel. But that wasn't the only surprise.

"This is the Earth Alliance Archangel-Class Assault Ship, the Dominion." a familiar voice said over the comm. "Archangel, can you hear me?"

Those that had served on the Archangel before JOSH-A were all stunned. They all knew that voice.

"Your ship as been listed as a rebel ship and we therefore demand your immediate and unconditional surrender. Should you fail to abide by these orders, we will have no choice but to destroy your ship." Natarle Badgiruel said as her face appeared on the main screen. "It's been a while, Captain Ramius."

"Yes. Yes it has." Murrue replied.

"I regret that we have to meet again under these circumstances."

"Same here."

"I heard about what went on in Alaska. However, I strongly suggest that you surrender and talk things over with Military Command." Natarle said. "I don't know what help I can be, but I'll do everything I can to assist you. I know you're well aware of what this ship is capable of doing."

"Natarle. Thank you, but we cannot do that. This isn't only about what happened at Alaska, or even what happened to Orb." Murrue answered. "We have serious doubts of the entire Earth Alliance as a whole. Therefore, there will be no surrender and no return to the military."

"Oh, this is so amusing." Azrael spoke up, clapping his hands. "You should be embarrassed, Miss Captain. If we could solve everything by talking, there would be no conflict in this world. Enemies are made through misunderstandings. Once that happens, all that can be done is to shoot them before they shoot you."

"Director Azrael." Natarle said, trying to protest his intrusion.

Everyone on the Archangel's bridge fell silent for a moment.

"Isn't Azrael the name of…?" Miriallia asked.

Murrue's eyes narrowed. "Yes, the leader of Blue Cosmos."

Inside the cockpit of the Raven, Chris tightened his grip on the Raven's controls as watched things unfold on his screens. The leader of that damned organization was here. The monster responsible for the Bloody Valentine was here.

_'Focus. Focus dammit. Now is not the time for revenge. Stay focused and keep everyone alive.'_

"Launch the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre and the Raider." Azrael ordered. "Today we're sinking the unsinkable Archangel."

Natarle cut the channel. There was no other option now. "Tell the Luther and the Washington to deploy all mobile suits. Open the port catapult for the mobile suits. Target the Harbor with the starboard Lohengrin!" she ordered.

As the Dominion's mobile suits prepared to launch, it's Lohengrin fired. The large beam streaked out and impacted the side of the colony harbor. Debris crashed onto the ships inside. "Status report." Murrue ordered.

"The ship's fine ma'am. No real damage." Chandra replied.

Murrue opened the comm to the rest of the ships. "Is everyone else alright?"

"We're fine." Kisaka replied.

"We're fine as well." Waltfeld said. "But the Eternal isn't combat ready yet. We're gonna have to sit this one out."

"The Odin is good to go. But both the Valkyrie and the Einherjar are trapped by debris from the shot. They need some time before they can get out." John added. "The Archangel and the Kusanagi should engage the Dominion and it's escorts directly."

"What about the Odin?"

John grinned. "Don't worry. I got something special cooked up."

Murrue nodded. "Very well then. We'll deploy and engage them. Launch the Archangel!"

As the Archangel maneuvered out of the harbor, another thought came to mind as she glanced at the debris outside.. "Keep an eye for debris. The metapolymer tether lines out there are especially hazardous."

A moment later, the Freedom and Justice both launched and immediately went after the four closest enemy units.

"Athrun, it's those guys again. The ones we fought at Orb." Kira said as they sped towards the four incoming enemy machines.

"Yeah, I see them."

At the same time, the Kusanagi slowly moved from its mooring to join the battle. "Accelerate to full speed once we're outside." Cagalli ordered. "We'll cover the Archangel's port flank."

"Roger that."

The Odin slipped out just behind it. But instead of going to engage the Earth Alliance ships, it seemingly pulled away from the battle.

"Captain! One of the Nazca-class warships appears to be fleeing the area."

"What?"

Azrael chuckled. "I guess not all of their allies are as brave as them."

Natarle didn't say anything. It was unlikely that they were fleeing. They were no doubt trying to hide and ambush them. But if they defeated the Archangel and the other ship before they were in position, it would be meaningless.

* * *

The four Biological CPUs saw their primary targets right away. As much as they wanted to just demolish them, they had to remember their orders. If they failed, they feared they'd be subjected to the punishment again.

"Remember they want these things intact." Orga said.

"Well, you think they'd be satisfied with just one?" Clotho asked.

"They better." Kevin said. "Cause I don't think I can stop myself from killing one of them!"

Attacking first, the Calamity fired every weapon it possessed. Various energy beams streaked through space, forcing the Freedom and Justice to stop and dodge the shots. The Massacre opened fire on the pair, forcing them the pair to separate. The Forbidden and the Raider attacked. Shani, swinging his scythe at the Freedom while Clotho fired the Raider's hammer at the Justice.

Seeds shattered in both of their minds. Kira pulled back at the last second, avoiding the attack. Athrun blocked the hammer with his shield. Pushing the Justice back, but sparing it any damage. But pilots knew this was going to be a tough battle.

As the Kusanagi prepared to enter the battle, Cagalli quickly surveyed the area to see where the ship needed to go first. The Archangel and its forces already were taking on the Dominion, so that left only the two Agememnon-class warships to contend with.

"Engage the closest Agamemnon-class first." Cagalli ordered. "Aim for its engines."

But suddenly the entire ship jerked to a complete halt, as though it collided with an invisible wall. Everyone on the bridge was nearly thrown around

"What happened?"

"Sir, we've been snared by some kind of cable! It's wrapped around the port engine section!" the helmsman answered.

"Break free!"

"We can't, we're already at maximum thrust!"

Kisaka growled in frustration. The Kusanagi would be a sitting duck until it got freed. "Asagi! Get out there and cut whatever's trapping the ship!"

"Roger."

Asagi quickly left the Kusanagi, seeking to find where the ship was entangled and get it free. She only hoped that she had enough time.

Back on the Dominion, Natarle took notice of the Kusanagi's plight. She opened a channel to the Washington and the Luther. "Captain Leon, Captain Walters, the Izumo-class seems to be incapacitated for moment. Concentrate your forces and firepower on the Archangel. We need to take them out it before the Orb ship can free itself."

"Roger."

"Ma'am."

The Strike Daggers of all headed for Archangel. Where they came face to face with the rest of the Archangel's mobile suits. Mu fired the Launcher Striker's Agni cannon, destroying a Dagger. "Eat this!" Liz shouted, firing her beam rifle at another.

A pair of Daggers fired at the Neo Blitz, but Nicol deflected the beams and fired his pincer claw at one and shot at the other. Saul slice one in two with his swords as Dearka gunned down one with his cannons. A barrage of bullets tore through one Strike Dagger before the Raven's Ahura Mazda blades sliced another in three.

Elsewhere, Shani was ignoring their present orders concerning capturing the Freedom and the Justice. And heading for the trapped Kusanagi.

"Shani, where are you going?!" Clotho demanded. "Ugh, that dumbass!"

Asagi didn't need to search long before she had found the cable that had the ship immobilized. Pulling out a beam saber, she cut into the cable, melting it away layer by layer. However, due the material it was made of and it's thickness, she had no idea how long it was going to take her.

Suddenly out the corner of her eye, a dark shape loomed out of nowhere. She quickly recognized it as one of the enemy Gundams from the battle back at Orb. It was right in her face, and there was no time or means to dodge or even fight back. The Forbidden reeled back its Nidhoggr scythe, ready to slice her Astray to pieces. But it was not meant to be. Something slammed into the Forbidden, sending it flying. It was the flightpack of the Justice. Athrun had come in just in enough time to save Asagi.

"Don't just sit there!" he shouted. "Hurry and get the ship loose!"

"R-right." Asagi replied, wasting no time in getting back to work.

Athrun reattached his flightpack, when a proximity alarm rang. He saw the Forbidden was returning, this time now focusing on him. Drawing one of his beam saber, he charged forward to answer the challenge.

Simultaneously, Kira had his hands full taking on both the Raider and Calamity. However, the Massacre was nowhere to be seen. The two enemy machines were flying circles around him, but he did what he could to take shots at them when they drifted into his sights. The Calamity came to a halt, aiming its Todesblock. Kira tried to take the chance this apparent opening gave, when a second alarm rang. He looked to see the Raider's Mjolnir hammer was coming right at him full speed. He fired the Freedom's head mounted vulcans, hitting the weapon to try and slow down its momentum. It worked just barely, but it was enough. Swinging his shield, he batted away the hammer, causing it to now strike the Calamity straight in its torso.

At that very moment, Kevin appeared from below, firing his head mounted beam cannon at the Freedom. Kira flew out of the path of the beams, firing his own rifle back. But the Massacre dodged his shots. The Calamity fired it's cannons at the Freedom. Kira evaded the beams, only to come face to face with the Raider in it's mobile armor mode, it's Ahura Mazda blades activated. Kira swore as he sidestepped the machine. These pilots were skilled. Far more skilled than most. Kira wasn't all that sure if he could defeat more than one of these guys at a time. But Kira had no other choice. If he didn't stop these guys, they'd destroy everyone.

* * *

On the other side of Mendel, the five Nazca-class ships had arrived unseen. Along with Zane, Yzak, Saya and Shiho, Le Creuset could see the battle unfolding in front of them.

"Well, look at what we have here." the Commander said, "The curtain's been raised on this little show."

Ades looked up from his console. "The Eternal and the 11th Fleet are definitely there, along with two other vessels, one of which happens to be the legged ship. It seems that the Earth Forces have two Agamemnon-class, but the other is unknown right now. "

Le Creuset took a look at the console and then back out the bridge's windows. "Whatever the case, until we've a better understanding of what's going on, it'll be best if we stay out of it for now." He then rose from his seat. "However, Yzak, Zane, and I will enter the colony and gather information."

Ades was taken aback. "You're personally going, sir?"

The Commander nodded. "I want both the Noin, the Helderton, the Burton and the Heusinger to remain here. If all goes well, we can easily bring a number of matters to a close. Now, get my GuAIZ ready."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Mu suddenly felt a familiar feeling race up his spine. A feeling he hadn't felt since Alaska. And he knew exactly what the cause of it was. Creuset was here. Mu turned around and headed back towards the colony. Flying past the Raven, the Buster, the Neo Blitz and the Surge.

"Hey, Pops!" Dearka called out. "Where are you going?"

"Watch it with the Pops!" Mu warned. "There are ZAFT forces close by!"

_'Zane.'_ Chris thought as he turned and followed the Strike. _'The Commander was always going about how he always knew when Le Creuset was around. And if he's around, Zane's not too far.'_

Dearka and his teammates were bewildered by Mu's claim. They all wondered how La Flaga could actually know if ZAFT forces were nearby. However, if he was correct and a ZAFT force had followed the Eternal and the 11th Fleet here, then they had to action now. Before they found themselves pinned between ZAFT and the Alliance. The three pilots glanced at each other for a moment before firing their thrusters and followed after the Strike and the Raven.

The five mobile suits rushed back to the Mendel harbor, passing the Eternal and the two Nazca-class vessels and deeper into the colony.

* * *

Inside Mendel

The Duel and two GuAIZ flew through the colony interior. Rau smirked as they traveled. Everything thing was shaping out nicely. He now had the means to supply Azrael with the data he had obtained from his contacts in Aprilius One.

Though he would slightly miss the girl. It had been a long time since he indulged in such things, and he found it amusing how she always resisted and fought. Of course, had she stop fighting, he probably would have gotten tired of her and stopped.

Rau smirked. Soon her real purpose would be fulfilled. The final door will open. And at here of all places. It was certainly poetic. Mankind's end would begin here, the place that symbolizes Mankind's desires. Mankind's greed. Mankind's true self.

Suddenly, the Strike, the Raven, the Buster, the Surge and a machine that looked like the Blitz.

"The Buster and the Surge! Those bastards!" Yzak shouted. "They're not gonna get away with using their machines like that!"

The Duel sped off towards the two machines in question and the Neo Blitz. Zane turned his attention to the Raven. "It's been awhile Chris." Zane said, firing his beam rifle on the Raven. "But this is no GINN. You aren't gonna win this time!"

"Bring it on Zane. Even in a new machine, you can't beat me!" Chris replied, firing back with his railgun.

Rau turned his attention to the Strike. Then he felt it. His smirk widened. "So you're the one piloting that machine now, Mu La Flaga."

Mu fired the Agni cannon at the GuAIZ, but Rau was too fast for him. Evading the shots with ease. "Damn. I think I may have chosen the wrong armament for this." Mu said as he fired off more shots.

* * *

"Die! Die! Die!" Kevin screamed, firing all of his Gatling guns at the Freedom and the Justice.

At the same time, Shani wildly fired off his plasma induction cannon. Beams and bullets filled the area. Kira, Athrun, Clotho and Orga found themselves struggling to avoid getting hit.

"Kevin! Shani!" an annoyed Clotho shouted as he struggled to avoid the beams.

"What are you doing, you idiots?!!" Orga added.

The two Extended pilots paused at that moment, giving Kira and Athrun an opening. Kira fired his twin plasma beam cannons at the Forbidden, forcing Shani to stop and deflect the beams. At the same time, Athrun drew his sabers and lunged at the Massacre. Kevin instinctively pulled his beam Gatling guns up. But that's what Athrun wanted. The sabers sliced through the gun barrels. But at that moment, Kevin fired his beam cannon. But Athrun pulled the Justice's head out of the path of the beam.

Elsewhere, the Kusanagi was finally freed from the cable and headed to support the Archangel with it's Astrays. But it wasn't the only one. Appearing out of nowhere on the Alliance battlegroups' left flank, the Farsight and the Odin's GuAIZ's emerged, firing on the three Alliance warships. Behind, the Odin emerged from behind an asteroid, adding it's fire to battle. GuAIZs and Astrays gunned down Strike Daggers as the Archangel, the Odin and the Kusanagi fired at the Earth Forces warships.

The Dominion shook as several missiles impacted it's hull. "Captain! Orb and ZAFT warships and mobile suits approaching!"

"Oh my. It's seems they've come to the Archangel's rescue." Azrael commented.

The Kusanagi's Gottfrieds fired at the Dominion. But the ship managed to evaded the beams. "We're temporarily retreating! Fire the retreat signal!" Natarle ordered.

Azrael was stunned by this. "What?!"

"Right now, we're at a disadvantage." Natarle explained. "We can't win if we stay for now."

"But we had them cornered!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. The Nazca-class fled as the battle started. They weren't running, they were using all the debris around the colony to mask their presence as they moved to flank us." she answered. "Plus those four machines are starting to run low on power. If we don't retreat now, we'll be destroyed."

"So you're saying, run away today to come back and win another day?" Azrael said, a smirk forming on his face.

"Are you really that eager to die?" Natarle replied.

The Domion fired it's flares. The surviving Strike Daggers withdrew, returning to their ships. The Calamity and the Raider started to headed back. "Damn. I guess our time's up." Clotho cursed.

"Yeah. It looks that way." Orga said.

But their two other teammates were less than willing to retreat. Kevin was like a berserker, swinging his beam sabers at the Freedom wildly while Shani kept on firing his cannon at the Justice. But Kira and Athrun were more than able to dodge their attacks.

Clotho and Orga pulled up alongside their unbalanced teammates. "Kevin, Shani! We gotta go!" Orga called out.

"Screw that! I'm not stopping until these punks are dead!!" Kevin shouted back.

"Yeah!" Shani added.

"You idiots! We have to retreat! Do you want to feel that pain again?!" Orga shot back.

Both pilots scowled. They all hated loosing. But they hated the pain more. Seeing no other option, the four Biological CPUs fled, heading for the Dominion.

With their enemies retreating, Kira and Athrun both breathed a sigh of relief, along with many of their comrades. "Kira, are you alright?" Athrun asked as he pulled alongside the Freedom.

"Yeah." Kira replied. "But those pilots... Those pilots aren't Naturals."

* * *

Inside Mendel

Yzak swung the Duel's saber at the Buster, but the machine dodged the saber. Yzak swore as the three mobile suits circled him but didn't actually do anything. He was getting annoyed. It was bad enough these Naturals were piloting Dearka's and Saul's machines, but he hated this cheap copy of Nicol's Blitz even more. It was an insult to his fallen comrade's memory.

"Yzak! Please! Stop this!"

Yzak froze. He couldn't have heard that voice. It was impossible. "Nicol?"

"Yes Yzak. It's me. I survived that battle and my Blitz was rebuilt." Nicol answered.

"Come on Yzak." Dearka said. "We don't want to fight you."

"Yeah Scarface. Fighting you is two much trouble." Saul added.

Yzak was completely stunned but all of this. So much so, that he didn't even notice Saul's comment.

* * *

Outside Mendel

The Justice and the Freedom arrived at the Mendel Harbor as the Archangel, the Kusanagi and the Odin entered the harbor. "How is everyone?" Kira asked.

"We're alright. But we lose contact with Mu, Chris and the others inside the colony." Murrue replied. "Mu said that ZAFT was here and they went to investigate."

"Okay. I'll go and check on them. Athrun, you stay here in case the Dominion tries something." Kira said heading into the colony.

* * *

Inside Mendel

The Raven slowly walked inbetween the abandoned buildings of the colony. Chris glance back and forth. Zane had lured him into the buildings. No doubt he hoped that he would have the advantage on the ground. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't.

"Where are you... Where are you hiding... There!"

The Raven spun around and fired as the crimson GuAIZ fired it's beam rifle. The beam passed by the Raven's chest, missing him by a few, few feet. While Zane sidestepped the railgun rounds. "It seems you've improved." Zane said.

"I could say the same for you." Chris replied.

Zane chuckled. "I have you to thank for that. You've pushed me to my limits and beyond them. I had gotten lazy and my skills had dulled fighting nothing but pathetic Naturals."

"What happened to you Zane? You were never like this. You always believed in the good of people!"

"I was a fool back then. There is no good in humanity! All we do is hate, fight and kill! That is all we know how to do! That is what we are! Bigots, soldiers and killers! And soon, humanity will receive the punishment that humanity as deserved for so long!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?!"

Zane laughed. "You can only see the two warring sides. You can't see what lies beneath it all. You-"

Suddenly, the Freedom appeared, firing on the GuAIZ. But Zane dove out of the way, fleeing from the area. "Chris, are you alright?" Kira asked as he landed next to him.

Chris nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Where's Mu and the others?"

At that moment, they both glanced up. Above them, the Strike and Rau's GuAIZ battled. Rau fired, hitting the Strike's cannon, destroying it. Mu drew his knives as Rau fired his extensional arrestors at the Strike. They tore through the Strike's right arm and left side of it's waist. There was a small explosion in the Strike's cockpit, sending a shard of metal into Mu's side as the Strike fell to the ground.

Rau aimed at the Strike and was a about to fired when a beam tore through his rifle. He looked up, only to see the Freedom. Kira fired again, blowing off the GuAIZ's head. Then, Kira drew his saber and sliced through it's legs. Sending Rau's ruined machine to the ground.

Rau swore as he climbed out of his disabled machine and fled. But Mu saw this and tried to stop him. Rau fired his sidearm at him as he passed the Strike. "What do you say we put an end to this all today?" Rau said, running towards _that_ building.

"Dammit." Mu cursed, chasing after his masked rival. "What are you up to now Creuset?!"

"Come with me!" Rau called back. "Come with me and I'll show where it all began and how it will end!"

Kira and Chris watched the two men enter a large building. Seeing no other option, they grabbed their sidearms and left their machines, heading after them.

Mu slowly moved through the hallways, a hand on his bloody side. Creuset had disappeared within the numerous hallways of the building. "Do you know what this place is, Mu?" Le Creuset called out, his voice echoing through out the building.

"Why would I, you psycho?" Mu replied.

He then squeezed off a couple of shots blindly in Rau's direction. Rau fired back, forcing Mu to duck for cover. Mu quickly moved once the firing stop, running to a column.

"It's such a tragedy that you don't know!" Le Creuset shouted.

"Mu!" Kira shouted at that moment, distracting the two.

Before either man could react, Kira and Chris fired at the ZAFT commander, forcing him to pull back from the trio.

"Kira, Chris, don't!" Mu warned as the two teens approached.

Rau was stunned by hearing the boy's man. Was that boy Kira Yamato? This made for an interesting twist. He already knew of the son of the Dantes' from Zane, but if Kira Yamato was indeed _that_ child, than this was going to be far more interesting. "The prodigal son returns!" he called out.

Rau's words briefly confused Kira. He couldn't think about that at the moment. He and Chris both looked out to see if the coast was clear and rushed over to where Mu was hunkered down. They both immediately saw the wound on their senior and friend. "Mu, you're hurt." Kira said.

"It's nothing." Mu lied. "Listen, this is our chance to get this guy once and for all. Now both of you follow me and be careful."

The trio then slowly moved out, checking every corner and hallway for any sign of Le Creuset. They knew he was close, but had no idea where and he was likely lying in wait to ambush them at any moment.

"Kira! Do you remember this place Kira!" Le Creuset called out again, "This place is where you were born!

Kira stiffened. "What is he talking about?"

Mu glanced back over his shoulder. "Don't listen to anything he says. He's trying to play mind games with us."

"Yeah. Don't lower your guard for moment Kira." Chris added.

"And you, Mr. Dante! You were born here as well!" Rau shouted.

"Yeah right, psycho!" Chris shot back. "Play your mind games with someone else!"

Rau's laughter echoed through the halls. Seeing no other option, they continued on until they came to a door labeled 'HUMAN GENE MANIPULATION LAB'. Pressing the switch, it slid open and they ventured inside. They moved down a dark hallway before coming into lab's interior. All around them they found large dark cylinders lined in rows. What was eeriest about them was that they power sources were fully functioning. But why would that be if the colony had been abandoned years ago?

Moving across the catwalk, they found an even more disturbing find. In front of them was a cluster of glass tubes, each containing a dead human fetus. All of them were underdeveloped and malformed. They didn't even look human. A shutter crawled up Chris's spine. He was beyond creeped out. Though he was the son of doctors, he hated hospitals. They always made him feel creeped out. But this was much, much worse.

"What the hell is this place?" Mu muttered.

"Don't know. Don't care." Chris said. "Just want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

"Does any of this bring back memories, Kira?" Le Creuset mocked.

Mu twisted to the side, catching movement inside a room to the left. He rushed inside, firing his weapon. He then saw a figure and a muzzle flash. The bullet tore into his arm, the pain forcing him to drop his gun.

"Mu!" Kira shouted as he and Chris ran in, grabbing their comrade and shoving him behind a sofa. They then quickly joined him behind it as well.

Le Creuset finally emerged from the shadows and walked towards his enemies. "I won't kill just yet, not after all the trouble I went through to bring you here."

"Cut the crap, you maniac!" Mu growled, fighting back the pain of his wounds. "We're not playing your game!"

Le Creuset remained nonchalant. "I'll give both the full story before I finish you off." He then grabbed something and threw it at them.

It clattered to the floor and slid to a stop next to Kira. Glancing over to it, he was shocked by what he saw. It was another copy of the photo Cagalli had shown him. There was no mistaking the woman in the picture or her babies.

"And he's not the only one with secrets here." Le Creuset then tossed a folder at them.

The folder fell open as it landed, scattering the photos and the files it contained. One fluttered to the middle and it quickly caught Mu's attention. The photo was of a man carrying a small boy atop his shoulders.

"That's me." He gasped, "That's me and my dad. But why is…how…?"

But that wasn't those weren't only photos that caught someone's attention. Chris's eyes were locked onto a photo as well. The picture was of a group of men and women in white lab coats. Among them was two very familiar faces.

"Mom...Dad..."

Le Creuset smile was cruel and he laughed in wicked delight. "I'd like to tell you all a little story." he said. "One of the full extent of mankind's insatiable desires, and of the crazed fools who followed their insane dreams. All in the name of progress..."

* * *

Now, first and foremost, I reveal Chris's past in the next chapter. But he isn't an Ultimate Coordinator. I'm hoping the next chapter will be up before Friday. But if not by then, I won't be able to until next week cause I'll be out of town. As always, review!


	31. Phase Thirty: The Opening Door

Yo everybody. I'm back from my trip. Now originally, I had planned to have the rest of Mendel play out in this one chapter. But it grew too longer, so I've chopped it in two. With means, you'll wait one more chapter before I reveal the full extent of Chris's origin.

Oh, exia00, I could use your OC. But, I would prefer to be able to contact you privately, so we could hammer out the details quickly and without revealing any Destiny spoilers to the public. That's why I was insistent on you having a profile on the site. A FanFiction profile would be preferred, but an e-mail would be tolerable if you don't want to do the easy and sigh up for the site.

**Phase Thirty: The Opening Door**

Inside Mendel

The Buster, the Surge and the Neo Blitz landed. Across from them, the Duel landed as well. All four pilots climbed out of their machines. All of them were on edge, unsure of how this would play out. Dearka, Nicol, and Saul all hoped that it wouldn't come to violence. But before any of them could say anything, Yzak drew his sidearm and aimed it at them. His three former teammates tensed up. "Whoa there. There's no need for that, Yzak." Saul said.

"You honestly think I'd be naïve enough to just talk to an enemy?" Yzak sneered.

Dearka put his hands up. "So now we're your enemy just like that?" he asked.

"The only people I see here are an enemies and a traitors."

The trio stiffened. "We didn't choose to become your enemy, Yzak. And we're not trying to betray the PLANTs. But..."

"Then what is it?!" Yzak shouted, interrupting him. "Why are you fighting alongside the Strike? The very machine that almost killed you Nicol!"

A silence descended on the four pilots. "All of us can no longer agree with what ZAFT's doing." Nicol said, breaking the silence. "Not if it's only about senselessly killing Naturals."

* * *

Inside the Mendel Lab

"This place is like a forbidden temple." Rau said,gesturing to the laboratory around them. "It's the remnants of the dreams of fools thought they were gods." He then looked straight at Kira, staring into his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that the people you called mother and father were in fact not your real parents?"

Kira shuddered. There had been times when he thought along those lines. But he always believed that it was because his parents had been Naturals and he was a Coordinator. But if they really weren't his parents...

"If you had truly known." Rau continued. "Then perhaps you would've turned out different. You wouldn't have been so normal. Without a trace of your tainted past. Even when Athrun first mentioned your name, it hadn't dawn on me that you may very well be the one. I had heard that both twins died, as along with your real father, Dr. Ulen Hibiki, you were at the top of Blue Cosmos' hit list."

"What?" Kira whispered.

"But you've survived, grown up, and plunged into this war, and still, you're alive." Rau said, "Now why do you think that is? Seeing you now, even I'm convinced that those fools were on to something. Perhaps their dream wasn't so far-fetched."

Kira's body shook more and more and raised his gun at Rau's head and thumbed back the hammer.. "I'm what?" he demanded. "What is it you think I am?"

Mu grunted in pain from his wound as he saw the words of that psychopath get into Kira's head.

"You are humanity's dream." Rau sneered, "Kira Yamato, you are the Ultimate Coordinator."

Kira froze, wondering what that statement meant.

"It was Dr. Hibiki who created the artificial womb, in the pursuit of that dream. Out of all the specimens, you were the only one to survive. A great many of your siblings had to be sacrificed along the way." Rau said harshly to Kira.

Kira was overcome with shock. He dropped his gun on the ground and started to tremble as he looked to the side and stared at the glass containers. If what Le Creuset said was true? What if he had been born here? Did that mean that all these dead fetuses were his unborn brothers and sisters? He felt bile rise up his throat but he managed to suppress it before it reached his mouth. Kira slumped back slightly, utterly shocked at this outpouring of truth and realizing that all of his life had been a lie. Everything he had known had been a lie...

"Shut up!!" Chris shouted, firing a couple of rounds at Creuset.

Rau ducked behind a table. Chris turned to Kira. "Don't listen to this nutjob Kira! He's trying to get into your head!" he said to his confused friend, trying to shake him from his stupor.

But Creuset hasn't done yet. "And you, Christopher Dante. How many children were born dead because of your parents' work. Born deformed. Born insane. All to give birth to you. What your parents had hoped would be their greatest success. That those lives lost would count for something." the masked man said, poking his up up from the table. "Instead, you were they're greatest failure! A failure that shattered their dreams completely! Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't kill a pathetic failure like you after you were born!"

"I said, shut the hell up!!!" Chris screamed, firing at Creuset again. "I've had it up to here with your lies!! I'm not falling for any of your mind games!!"

Rau pulled his head back down. "All I've told you is the truth." he smugly replied.

"Then where's the proof?!" Chris shouted back. "All you've shown us is some photos! They could have come from anywhere! They aren't enough to back up your claims!"

"Take a look on your left then." Rau replied.

Against his better judgment, Chris turned to his left. There were several doors along the wall. The doors all had names written on them. They were offices. His eyes scanned the names until he came across one door. His body froze as his eyes locked onto the words written on that door...

DR. DAVID AND CLAIRE DANTE

His parents' names. He had tried to deny Rau's claims. Passing it off as Creuset's demented mind games. But he couldn't deny it anymore.

But it didn't make sense. His parents were doctors. They cared for the sick. Heal the injured. They strove to save lives. They wouldn't work in this insane place. Not the mother and father he knew. They would never be apart of this insanity.

Suddenly, Rau rose up and fired another round. Mu leaped up and pulled both teens down to the ground. Quickly, rising back up after that, Mu fired two rounds at Rau, who quickly retreated into an empty corridor. Chris mentally cursed himself for getting distracted in the middle of a gun fight. Now wasn't the time for this. He had to deal with this later. Mu glanced at him. Chris waved him off. "I'll be fine. We need to stop him."

Mu nodded and turned to Kira. He was in worse shape, at least mentally. Kira looked stunned and horrified. Like a soldier suffering from shellshock. "Come on kid, don't take his nonsense serious even for one second. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Mu said, trying to comfort him.

This seemed to knock Kira at least partially out of his dazed. He weakly nodded. And the three of them chased after Creuset.

* * *

The Archangel

Inside the Mendel Harbor

Back at the harbor, repair work on the Archangel was completed and now everyone stood around, waiting anxiously. They waited for the Dominion and it's escorts to make another move or for the newly-discovered ZAFT forces on the other side of the colony to move. And most importantly, for any word on the missing members of their group inside the colony.

"There are five Nazca-class vessels behind us?" Murrue asked.

"Aye." John replied from his cockpit. "Hilda's group just came back with the confirmation. This is going to be a problem for us."

"Indeed it will." Andrew said. "At the moment, we're missing a good chuck of our mobile suit strength. While I'm confident that we could stand a chance against the ZAFT forces and most of the Earth forces here, I'm not sure how we'll fair against both forces at the same time. And, I'm not sure how we'll be able to fair against those four without Kira."

John nodded. "Yes. At best, we'll be able fight to a stalemate." He sighed before continuing, "Those four are unlike any pilots I've encountered before. They're as good as any ZAFT aces. But they're wild and reckless. And those machines of theirs' are very powerful. We have to hope the Kira and the others return before either group moves in."

* * *

The Eternal

Athrun felt the most anxious of everyone. He thought that Kira would've at least contacted them by now. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to act. "I'm going to go looking for them." he said, powering up the Justice.

Suddenly, Lacus appeared on the screen before him. "I cannot permit that." she said. "Please remain on standby for the time being."

"Lacus. We're facing a situation with six of our pilots and mobile suits missing. You can't expect me to just sit here and do nothing, can you?"

"That is the very reason you must stay here." She replied. "We cannot afford to reduce our numbers any further. The ZAFT forces are nearby and we don't know when the Earth Forces will attack again. No matter what, we must press on. Even if Kira, Chris, and the others don't make it back."

Athrun felt powerless. She was right of course. They couldn't spare anyone at the moment. If the Dominion and those four attacked again or if the ZAFT forces attacked, he'd be needed here. All he could do was hope that everyone would return safely.

* * *

Inside the Mendel Lab

Down in a deeper level of the lab, Mu, Chris and Kira slowly moved through the lab. Mu's injuries were starting to affect him more severely. While his adrenaline rush numbed most of the pain, he knew he needed to get medical attention soon or he'd be in trouble. But before that, he had to kill Rau. The three entered a room filled with bottles and vials of medical supplies and medication. Mu and Kira took cover behind a lab table while Chris crouched behind a pile of debris and a fallen cabinet on the other side of the room.

Out of the dim light of the room, the sound of descending footsteps echoed. Mu peered out to see a shape proceeding down the staircase. Rau reloaded his pistol and twisted his head, searching for his adversaries. "My fellow humans, I'm now revealing a secret I have kept from all.'" He called out in a mocking tone, speaking the words of the late George Glenn. "I did not come into the world through natural birth. My genes were artificially operated on during the early embryonic stage."

He stopped. "Those were the words of George Glenn, humanity's very first Coordinator." he said, pressed a button on a wall panel.

A series of lights came on, illuminating a medicine cabinet of sorts. "Little did he realize what chaos was to follow after his announcement. He set into motion a wave of avarice unlike any before. So many parents wanted their dream children, choosing traits that fulfilled their own desires. It was as they were special ordering of some catalog." he said, his voice filled with disgust. "People paid a great price for their dream, but not everything goes as planned. Babies that weren't miscarried were born with traits different than what their parents wanted. No one wants to see their hopes and dreams destroyed! That's what drove them on!"

Rau reached the bottom of the stairs. They were close. He could feel it. "And what did people gain from this?! What did they get?! What was the result of their dreams?!"

Kira was mortified by all of this. Again, Kira found himself lost in thoughts of what he was exactly. While Chris and Mu had both had enough of his mind games and rants. "Shut up!!" Chris shouted, standing up and firing wildly at the man.

Rau dodged every shot and fired a single shot. The well aimed bullet struck his sidearm, sending it flying. He quickly dove back behind the debris. "And you're parents were no better." Rau said, aiming at Chris. "They sought to advance humanity up the next step of the evolutionary ladder. To create a new, better breed of man. Not Natural. Not Coordinator. But something greater. They used the method for creating Coordinators as the base of their experiments to create this new human. But in the end, dozens of children were dead or suffered psychical and mental deformities! How many children suffered and died to give birth to you! How many died to give birth to a failure! Children like my...my..." Rau paused for moment, seemingly lost in thought. He shook his head before continuing. "Tell me, is there anything you'd like for me to pass onto Miss Allster before I do what should have been done years ago?"

"What?" Chris quietly said. "How-"

"She talks in her sleep. And she's wearing some dog tags with the name of your grandfather if I'm not mistaken." Rau said, a sickening grin spreading across his face.

Chris's eyes widened as his face turned to a stunned expression for a second before turning to an expression of rage. "You bastard!!" Chris roared as he jumped over his makeshift cover, racing for Creuset.

But Creuset didn't shoot him. He just stood there as Chris ran towards him. Just as Chris was about to reach him, Rau struck. Driving his right foot into Chris's stomach. Chris stumbled back only to receive a punch to his face. He fell to the ground. Chris looked up. Rau was standing over him, his gun pointed at his head.

"No you don't!!" Mu shouted, moving from his cover, firing at Rau.

But Rau seemed to predict his move and was already running for cover before Mu squeezed the trigger. Rau reached the corner of a wall while Chris dove for cover. "They thirsted for knowledge! They sought to fulfill their desires! And ultimately, they forgot why they were doing it! Even when they proclaimed their reverence for human life, they toyed with it, and they destroyed it!" He shouted, more to the heavens rather than his three enemies. "No matter what knowledge humans obtain, they never learn anything! They become envious of each other! Hate each other! Destroy each other!" Rau continued to rant as his began to fire wildly at them, destroying monitors and vials of medicine. "If that's what they truly desire, why don't they simply exterminate each other?!"

"What give you the right to sound so superior?!" Mu shouted back in anger as he fired in Rau's direction.

His last bullet missed Rau's ear by a mere inch. But he ignored it and continued to fire until his clip ran dry. As the clip slid out of Rau's empty pistol, he screamed with a twisted smile, "I am the only one who's earned that right! In all the universe, only I have the right to judge humanity!"

Mu spat at the raving man. "Cut the crap, you maniac! You don't really expect us to believe that?"

Rau laughed. "I'm surprised you don't remember. We've met once before, Mu. Long ago before we ever met on the battlefield."

Something about that line, sparked a pair of long forgotten memories in Mu's mind. He was ten at the time. It was a few months before his parents' deaths. A maid had been fixing his tie when he met a boy his age. A boy with blue eyes and blond hair like him. And he looked almost like him. In fact, they easily could have been mistake for brothers. The boy didn't say anything. He just stared at him for a few moments before walking away. He remembered how unsettled he had been by the silent boy and his empty, soulless gaze.

The other was a few years before that one. He had been walking past his father's office. The door was open slightly and he could hear his father talking to a servant. "He will be my heir. Not that woman's child. Make sure you keep a close eye on him and educate him well. Whatever you do, don't make him into another weakling." his father said.

Mu was dumbfounded. Why had these memories suddenly come back?

Rau's demeanor turned even more demented as he continued. "I am he! That arrogant fool...who thought he could thwart Death itself with his money! Al Da Flaga, your father! But I am merely that man's defective clone!"

"What?!" a stunned Mu said.

But the shock quickly wore off. "A clone. You expect anyone to believe that fairy tail."

"I don't want to believe it either." Rau replied. "Unfortunately, it's true!"

Rau slapped his final clip into his handgun and slowly moved out of his cover. "The final door is about to open! And I'm the one opening it! Then the world that we know will come to an end, this world of insatiable desires will end!" Rau said, approaching Mu's position behind the corner while Mu himself continued to breathe heavily.

Neither man realized that Kira was on the move. Grabbing a piece of debris and rushing towards the two adults.

"And then the conceited fools who struggle within it will finally have their wish come true!" Rau shouted maniacally as he raised his gun in Mu's direction, thumbing back the hammer.

"No, it won't happen! I won't let it!" Kira yelled as he threw the chuck of metal at Rau as he fired at the boy.

Rau emptied his clip. But none of the shots hit Kira. While the piece of metal that Kira threw hit Rau's mask dead on. The mask fell off, revealing Creuset's face to the trio. Mu, Kira and Chris all gasped as they saw his face. It was identical to the face of Mu's father.

"Ha! Do you think you can change what's going to happen!?" Rau said, ignoring the loss of his mask. "Nobody can do anything about it! For the world full of hatred is engulfing the universe!"

Suddenly, Rau ran off as Mu attempted to chase after him. However, due to the loss of blood of his injury, he stumbled and fell down. Both Kira and Chris rushed over to him. "We need to get out of here. Can you stand?" Kira asked as the two of them helped him up.

Mu nodded. "Yeah. I can stand. We have to get out of here."

The three pilots headed for the exit. But Kira stopped to gather the entire collection of photos. They then slowly made their way outside. Where their mobile suits were waiting.

* * *

The Dominion

Near Mendel

Back within the debris field just outside of Mendel's perimeter, the Dominion and it's escorts made final preparations for reengagement. However, Natarle was still nervous about the situation. The nearby Nazca-class ships had yet to make a move, and that worried her the most. "We'll be at a disadvantage if we make the first move." She said. "I cannot guarantee success."

"It's easy to say something is impossible." Azrael replied. "It's another to actually make it happen. That's how it is in the business world."

"This is war." Natarle sharply countered, "Failure means death."

"The stakes are the same in the business world." the Blue Cosmos leader said with a smug grin. "Is it that you're someone who'll only fight battles you know you can win?"

Natarle clenched her fists, but didn't say anything. Azrael took notice. "That's fine by me. I mean, no one wants to waste anything on a lost cause. But we can't keep sitting here forever, can we? Not if we want the prize."

* * *

The four Extendeds were almost ready to move out. Each took the vial of Gamma Glipheptin they were given. They wanted to finally defeat those mobile suits that they just couldn't seem to beat.

"You think we'll be in trouble again if we fail?" Shani asked.

"Probably." Clotho grunted. "That bastard doesn't give a damn about us. He only cares about us making him look good."

"Doesn't matter." Orga said with a smirk. "As long as we get to crush those two machines."

Kevin dropped his empty vial on the ground. "I don't care about him. I want to tear those bastards apart!" he said, crushing the empty vial under his foot.

His teammates nodded in agreement before they headed to their machines.

A short while later, the four Extended were prepped and ready to attack once more. As they took point, the remaining Strike Daggers from the three Alliance warships followed close behind.

* * *

Archangel's Bridge

Suddenly, Sai's console flashed red. "Captain, they're coming back!" he shouted

Dread hit hard for everyone. With a chuck of their mobile suit forces missing, including one of their most powerful machines, it wouldn't be easy to fight on equal footing.

"The Dominion is closing in with the two Agamemnon-class warships behind it." Miriallia reported. "Distance 50, Green, Bravo.

"All hands, level one battle stations!" Murrue ordered. "Prepare to move out!"

* * *

The Vesalius

The Other Side of Mendel

The ZAFT forces were in a state of confusion. There had been no contact with the Commander, Zane or Yzak for quite some time. Ades, Shiho and Saya stood on the bridge, waiting. "Captain Ades, the Earth Forces ships are reengaging the rogue vessels again!" a controller shouted.

Ades cursed under his breath. "Where is the Commander?" he muttered. "What could be happening inside that colony?"

"Should we go and check on them?" Saya asked.

"No. Not yet." the captain replied. "The Commander told us to wait here for them. And for now, we will wait for them."

* * *

Inside Mendel

Dearka, Nicol and Saul had taken turns explaining some of the recent transgressions involved with their defection. Things were tense with Yzak still aiming his gun at them. They liked to believe that he wouldn't pull the trigger. But it was a dicey situation at best.

"So you're saying that's why Commander Walfeld and the 11th Fleet joined Lacus Clyne?" Yzak asked. "And the same goes for Athrun as well?"

The three ZAFT pilots nodded.

"But why?" Yzak demanded. "What justifies this treason?"

"I've learned some things." Dearka explained. "We all have. The Freedom's pilot is the same guy who piloted the Strike. He's a Coordinator. And it turns out that he and Athrun have been friends since they were kids."

Yzak was surprised. Was that why Athrun had hesitated during their earlier battles with the Strike. "What are you saying?"

Nicol sighed. "I'm not quite as devoted to the cause as the others. I just wanted to protect the PLANTs. But at this point, I simply can't go with ZAFT's methods anymore."

"Nicol, that's enough!" Yzak shouted.

"He's not the only one." Saul added. "I never really wanted to be in the military. I was forced into it by my family. Even with the war, I still didn't desire to be a soldier. But ever since Orb, I've felt like what I'm doing has a real meaning. A real purpose. For the first time, I've felt like I should be a soldier."

"But that's treason!"

"Think about it Yzak! What is ZAFT even fighting for now?" Dearka said. "Alaska, Panama, Orb, this war is getting worse by the day! And for what?"

Yzak couldn't come up with an answer. It didn't make sense. Just then, the entire colony shook heavily.

"Yzak! Zane! are you there?" Le Creuset's voice came from Yzak's wrist comlink, "We're leaving at once." With that, the channel went silent.

Dearka, Nicol and Saul turned and headed back towards their machines. Yzak raised his guns at their backs. Nicol glanced back. "If you think we're your enemies now, then go ahead and shoot us."

Yzak couldn't stand it. Someone had gotten into their heads, filling them with strange ideas. "You're being deceived!" he shouted, half-pleading.

Dearka glimpsed over his shoulder. "I wonder which one of us is really being deceived. None of us have anything else to say. We're going now. I speak for all of us when I say that given the choice, we'd rather not fight you."

They climbed into their machines, powered them up and took off. Leaving Yzak behind, confused and alone.

* * *

"Yzak! Zane! Are you there? We're leaving at once." Creuset said over the comm.

Zane sat in the cockpit of his GuAIZ, near the building Rau, Chris and the others entered. He could have taken a shot at Chris as he left the Raven. But that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to defeat Chris in combat. Picking him off when he was defenseless like that, was meaningless. He wanted to prove he was superior to him regardless of the mobile suit.

Creuset rushed out of the building, towards his crippled GuAIZ. Zane out of his hiding space as the Commander entered the cockpit. "Zane, take me back to the Vesalius, now." he said, his voice becoming strained.

"Yes sir." he said, scooping up the headless and legless torso.

At that moment, the Duel appeared. "Yzak, I have the Commander. We're heading back."

"Right." Yzak responded before the two took off.

* * *

Outside Mendel

As the Archangel, the Kusanagi, the Eternal and three Nazca-class ships launched, Athrun took the lead, flanked by the Athena and several Astrays. "You all hang back and protect the ships." he ordered

"Roger that." Asagi replied as the Atrays pulled back.

"Are you kidding? Those four will tear you apart if you go it alone." Liz argued.

"Yeah. But your brother would kick his ass if something happened to you." John said as the Farsight launched from the Odin.

"He doesn't need to treat me like a baby." Liz said with a scowl.

"He's your older brother. He's suppose to worry about you." John replied as he pulled along the two mobile suits. "You lead the Astrays in the defense of the ships. I'll help Athrun out with those four punks."

"Fine."

The Athena pulled back as the Justice and the Farsight rushed forward, ready to engage the closest enemies.

Orga grinned. "Hey, there they are."

"That white one's missing." Clotho commented.

"Then we'll just have to capture that one." Orga replied.

Kevin growled at the sight of the Farsight. "That one. He's tricky coward. He's mine."

Charging forward, the two sides clashed. The Raider, the Forbidden, and the Calamity circled the Justice like a pack of sharks circling their prey. While the Massacre fired it's missiles at the Farsight.

* * *

Aboard the Eternal, Lucas watched and wished that there was more her ship could do to support the forward units. "Can we use the METEOR?" she asked, hoping they were ready.

DaCosta turned his head "Negative, the unit is still charging."

Lacus tensed, knowing that Athrun would have to make due with just the Justice.

On the Archangel, Murrue had to make a snap decision for the ship's next move. "We'll use the debris for cover." she ordered. "What about the ZAFT forces?"

"They still haven't moved." Sai answered.

"Captain, it's the Freedom!" Miriallia shouted. "No, it's everyone! They're coming back!"

Murrue was relieved. "Alert the hanger crews. Tell them to do a rush resupply job on the machines that need it." she ordered.

Kira opened a channel to the ship. "We're all here but Mu's been wounded."

Murrue gasped when she saw the damaged Strike being pulled along by the Freedom. The six machines landed in the hanger. Kira quickly secured the Strike before heading out again. While the Raven, the Surge, the Neo Blitz and the Buster secured themselves and powered down as the crews quickly connected their power cables so they could recharge their batteries.

* * *

Athrun threw his beam boomerangs at the Calamity and the Raider. Both machines dodged the boomerangs and their rebound. Suddenly, the Forbidden fired it's cannon at the Justice. Athrun as he frantically dodged the wild, curving beams.

"Shani! Watch it!" Clotho shouted at his teammate. "We have to capture this one! Remember!"

"I know that!" Shani yelled back. "That's what I'm trying to do!"

"Knock it out!" Orga said, firing at the Justice. "We have a job to do!"

Both pilots grumbled and focused on Athrun again. The Raider's hammer flew at him. Athrun ducked under it. Only to have the Forbidden bring it's scythe down on his head. Athrun pulled up his shield, blocking the hit. He pushed the Forbidden back.

Elsewhere, the Farsight dove behind a piece of debris as the Massacre fired wildly at him. "Quit hiding!!" Kevin roared. "Fight me like a man!!"

He was getting annoyed. The machine had pulled away from the red one and deeper in the debris field. The coward was constantly moving in and out of the debris. Hiding like a rat.

"Why should I fight like a man when my opponent is little more than an animal?" John asked, firing from behind a large chuck of metal.

The Massacre sidestepped and fired back with his Gatling guns. But the Farsight was already gone. Kevin howled in frustration. "Damn you!! Quit hiding rat!!"

Suddenly, a barrage of beams struck the Massacre. The missile pods on it's right leg were blown. The left Gatling gun exploded. And the Ragnarok beam cannon was destroyed. "What?!!"

The Freedom appeared. "Mr. Alaric, are you alright?" Kira asked.

"I'm fine. Athrun's the one that needs help. The other three are fighting him right now." John replied, leaving his hiding spot.

"Alright. I'll help him." Kira said as he took off. "But be careful."

"Don't worry. This feral dog will never be able to catch a flying hawk. No matter how hard they try." John said turning to the Massacre.

* * *

The Vesalius

The Other Side of Mendel

Flay was startled by the sound of the opening door. She stood back as Rau rushed in and over to his desk. He was panting and groaning and moaning in pain. He opened the drawer, pulled out the bottle of pills and swallowed down a handful. He then pulled out a spare mask and put it on. Flay cautiously approached the quivering man, unsure of what would happen next.

Rau slowly recovered enough to where his body had stopped shaking. He pressed down on the intercom. "Ades! Have our forces move out now! Send out every mobile suit we have, the same goes for the Nion, the Burton, the Heusinger and the Helderton!"

"Commander?"

"Just do it!" Rau shouted. "We didn't come out here to just sit back and watch! I'll be going out again as well, so have my CGUE ready!" With that command, he turned off the intercom. He let out a shuddering gasp, his breathing labored. He turned to Flay, predatory grin returning. "And I'll need your help too, my dear."

Flay took a step away, frightened for her safety and the safety of her unborn child. She placed a hand on her abdomen. Rau didn't seem to notice it. If he did, he didn't care. He took out a familiar disk and held it out to Flay. "Please deliver this for me. If this key is brought to the Earth Forces, then this terrible war can come to an end."

Flay looked up, surprised. Slowly, she accepted the disk. She could only guess what sort of information it contained. "If I do this, The war will be over?" she said, more to herself than to Creuset.

This war had already taken her father. She desperately wanted it to end before it claimed Chris's life. She didn't want her child to grow up without a father. Like how she had with her mother. If this would end the war, than she would deliver it.

"Yes. Now let's get you ready." Rau answered, taking her by the hand.

A short while later, Flay was in a locker room, putting on a spacesuit. Once she was suited up, two ZAFT soldiers took her to an escape pod and motioned for her to go inside. She climbed in, strapping herself into the seat. After the hatch was sealed, one of the soldiers turned to the other. "Any idea what the Commander has in mind?"

The second only shrugged. "Who knows. But he must have some plan for her."

The pair left, leaving her alone in the pod. Flay clutched the disk in her hands. She kept telling herself that she just had to take it and pass it along to the Earth Forces. And then, the war would finally be over.

* * *

The Dominon

"The six Nazca-class ships are moving towards us!" the radar operator shouted as the ship shuttered from a barrage from the Archangel.

Natarle froze. Had the ZAFT forces waited for her group to engage the Archangel and its allies so that they could attack while they were in the middle fighting each other?

"They're hailing us!" the comm officer said.

"What?" a stunned Natarle said.

This was a move that she had never expected.

"Attention, Earth Forces." the voice of the ZAFT Commander said. "Before we engage, I'd like to take this time to return a prisoner to you."

Both Natarle and Azrael exchanged confused looks. What was the enemy doing? What prisoner were they talking about?

The Archangel and Dominion kept at their closely matched battle. Almost every move was countered and then any counter was met with yet another maneuver. As was the battles between their allied ships. Even the various mobile suits of the two respective groups had no clear advantage against over the other. Murrue gritted her teeth as she tried to think of something to try and deal a critical blow to Natarle and her ship. Of course, she did notice the other ship seemed to be lagging at the moment.

"Captain, the ZAFT Nazca-class ships are moving in!" Chandra called out.

Murrue and most of the bridge crew gasped. If the ZAFT forces were making their move now, there was the chance that the Archangel and the other ships would be boxed into a pincer attack with no way of escape.

"All mobile suits! Form up around the ships! We need to punch out of here now before we're pinned between ZAFT and the Alliance!" Samuel ordered.

* * *

The Vesalius

Yzak waited for his turn to launch again. Zane was in front of him, in his GuAIZ and the Commander in his CGUE. Behind him, Shiho sat in her CGUE DEEP Arms and Saya in her purple GuAIZ. As he sat, Yzak thought about what had happened with him and his former teammates. What had Dearka meant when he said, "I wonder which one of us is really being deceived?" Was there something happening within the ranks of ZAFT that he couldn't see? He had never worried about politics before; he had only focused on fighting and winning battles. Like any good soldier should. But now he was beginning to wonder.

"Yzak? Yzak!"

Yzak was brought back to reality when he heard Shiho.

Her face appeared on the screen. "Is there something wrong Yzak?"

He hesitated. "No." he lied as the Commander launched, followed by Zane. "Nothing's wrong."

"Remember, we are to concentrate on the Eternal and the rest of the traitors. The Burton and the Nion will focusthe other ships." Creuset reminded them.

Yzak stepped onto the mobile suit catapult and then launched into the battlefield. Once the last of the ZAFT mobile suits launched, Rau opened a channel to the Vesalius. He had taken the first step in his plan, now all he needed was to ensure that everything went the way he wanted. "Ades, send out the pod."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Flay felt the pod shake for a brief moment as it was launched into space. She closed her eyes and silently prayed for her safety, the safety of child, and that the war would soon end as the pod headed for the ongoing battle.

* * *

Now, a couple people have asked if I would do a naming contest for Flay's child. And I've decided that I will. I'll be hearing suggestions until the next chapter. As a result, I'll delay it abit so everyone who wants to, can submit their suggestions. The next chapter will have the list of names from my fans and my favorite of the names I can up with, so you can vote. Two things. First, it's a boy. Second, both suggestions and votes must be on logged in reviews. As someone can cheat with anonymous reviews.

Now, as always, review!


	32. Phase Thirty One: A Place for the Soul

Yo everybody. Before the next chapter begins, here's my list of possible names for Flay's son.

Leon  
Virgil  
Nero  
Alexander  
Jerid  
Milliardo

So it's voting time. Remember, only logged in reviews count and the poll stays open until Desiny starts.

Exia00: Guess you must not have a e-mail address or something like that. The only other reason I couldn't see it not letting you make a profile, is because that name could be take by someone else. If that's the case, why not choose a different name and just tell me that you've changed the name? I could use your OC, so show him to me. But his MS will be the Nero Blitz.

**Phase Thirty-One: A Place for the Soul**

The battle between the forces of the Clyne Faction and the forces of the Earth Alliance raged on. Alliance Daggers clashed with Orb Astrays and colored ZAFT GuAIZs. The Athena impaled a Dagger through it's chest with it's sword as it fired it's beam rifle at another. A Strike Dagger fired at an Astray, piercing it's cockpit. The mobile suit exploded. Suddenly, a trio of beams hit it. The Dagger's rifle exploded. A beam tore through it's left shoulder, severing the arm. The final beam blew it's head. The Dagger pilot frantically drew his saber defensively. "Leave while you can." Lucius said, his rifle locked on the Earth machine.

The Dagger pilot didn't need to be twice, and fled the area. Elsewhere, Diana fired her arrestors at a Dagger. One grabbed it's right shoulder while the other grabbed it's left thigh. Diana pulled her shield in front of her and charged at the Dagger. The mobile suit fired as the Panther, but were blocked by the shield. Just before she reached the Dagger, Diana drew her beam saber and sliced through it with ease.

Some distance away, the Freedom and the Justice battled the Calamity, the Forbidden, and the Raider. Kira fired his rifle at the Calamity. But Orga dodged it and fired his Todesblock bazooka. The Freedom flew up and shots flew past it, hitting the Forbidden's energy deflection shields. The beams bounced off and headed towards the Justice and the Raider. Both machines barely managed to dodge the shots. "Shani!! What the hell are you doing?!" Clotho shouted.

"Shut up!" Shani yelled back, firing his railguns at the black machine.

Clotho avoided the shots. "Bastard!"

"Knock it off!!" Orga roared, wildly firing his cannons at the other mobile suits, forcing everyone to stop and dodge the shots.

From the far side of Mendel, the ZAFT forces advanced towards the battle area. Eighteen GINNs, two GuAIZs, one CGUE, a CGUE DEEP Arms, the Duel and the five Nazca-class warships. But most were unaware of the escape pod traveling with the ZAFT forces.

* * *

The Archangel

"Damn." Samuel swore. "We have to withdraw before the ZAFT forces reach firing range and we become trapped."

"We'll clear an escape route for us by punching right through them." Waltfeld said. "The Eternal and the Kusanagi will clear the path. Archangel, you and the 11th Fleet need to continue dealing with the Earth Forces."

"But sir! That's near suicidal!" DaCosta said. "If we make a direct run towards them, then warships will be able to attack us with full force at almost point blank range."

"That's true, but should we manage to break past them, our odds of being pursued will be drastically decreased." Lacus said.

"And the ZAFT warships have spread out to make sure they ensure all of us, including the Alliance." Samuel added. "If you move fast enough, you'll be able to engage one or two of their ships before they can reform their line and overwhelm you. Strike hard. Strike fast."

Waltfeld grinned. "Yeah, it's risky, but it's our best chance. Captain Ramius?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes. We'll hold off the Dominion and it's forces while you make the path."

"Lisa. Take the Valkyire and your team, and help them punch through the ZAFT line." Diana ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Lisa said. "You heard her ladies! We're punching through the ZAFT forces!"

The Eternal, the Kusanagi and the Valkyire started to turn towards the approaching ZAFT forces.

"Ready Gottfrieds One and Two!" Kisaka ordered as the three warships moved towards the ZAFT fleet. "Set targeting to the oncoming ZAFT vessels! All M1s are move to intercept the approaching enemy mobile suits."

The ZAFT fleet had spread out to ensure that they would ensnare all of the fighting warships. But this also meant that the Nazca-class ships were spread out. And wouldn't be able to immediately provide support to one of their own, should they become overwhelmed.

The Gottfried cannons on the Kusanagi fired, as were the Eternal's missiles and main cannon, and the Valkyire's cannons. The shots went streaking out into space, heading for the two nearest battleships. The Vesalius and the Burton, as they fired at the three warships.

As these barrages were unleashed, a tiny object flew past the ship. Flay whimpered and held the restraints tightly. She had been adrift in outer space, but there hadn't been a battle raging around her. Even worse, someone had preprogrammed the pod and locked out the controls. So she was completely helpless.

The ZAFT forces closed in on the Eternal and Kusanagi. Mobile suits from the two sides prepared to engage one another. Though the Astrays and GuAIZs outclassed the GINNs, their pilots made up for this gap of technological power with experience and slightly larger numbers.

Yzak, Shiho and Saya moved to support their warships. Lisa fired at the Duel as it approached. Yzak sidestepped the shots and fired back. Lisa blocked the shots with her shield and fired again. Yzak blocked with his shield, when suddenly, Lisa fired her arrestors. The grapplers grabbed the Duel's shield and tore it from the machine's hand. Yzak swore as Lisa fired more shots at him. He dove down, drawing a saber in his left hand. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to beat me!" he shouted, lunging at the GuAIZ with his beam saber.

Lisa sidestepped the swing. "Your machine maybe better than mine. But a mobile suit's power doesn't always determine the outcome of a battle!" she said, igniting her shield's beam claws.

Meanwhile, Shiho and Saya were engaging a trio of Astrays. Shiho fired her thermal cannons as Asagi fired her beam rifle. Both pilots missed as they dodged the other's shots. Shiho drew her laser sword and lunged at at the Astray. Asagi quickly blocked the swing with her own beam saber. The two were locked for a moment, trying to overpower the other. Then both machines pushed back. Both girls raised their weapons and charged.

Nearby, Saya battled the other two Astrays. She fired her beam rifle at the Astrays. The two M1s split apart, dodging her beams and firing back with their own. But they missed as well. Juri continued to fire as Mayura moved to attack the GuAIZ from behind. But Saya recognized this tactic. She hit her thrusters, flying upwards at maximum speed. Both Orb pilots were caught off guard by this, allowing Saya to turn and fire at her opponents. But both instinctively pulled to the side, dodging the shots.

* * *

The Archangel

The Raven, the Buster, the Surge and the Neo Blitz had been resupplied and were ready to launch. The Archangel's catapults opened and the Raven and the Neo Blitz were loaded onto the catapults.

"Chris Dante. Raven taking off."

"Nicol Amalfi. Neo Blitz launching."

The two machines were launched. The Buster and the Surge were then loaded onto the catapults.

"Dearka Elsman. Buster, ready to launch."

"Saul Kessel. Surge takin' off."

The final two machines launched from the Archangel. "Archangel, where do you need us?" Dearka asked.

"The two Agamemnon-class ships and their mobile suits are beginning to cause problems for the Odin and the Einherjar." Miri said. "They need some back up."

"What about Kira and Athrun?" Chris asked.

"They're still fighting those four machines with Commander Alaric."

"Where?"

"Point Bravo 32."

Chris nodded, heading towards their location. "I'm going to help them."

"Alright. We'll help out the 11th Fleet." Dearka said as he and his teammates headed for the Odin and the Einherjar.

"DIE!!!" Kevin roared, firing his remaining missiles and Gatling guns at the debris in front of him.

The debris exploded. The Farsight braced itself as debris and a few missile impacted it, knocking the machine. "I found you!!!" Kevin shouted, firing at the Farsight.

John dove out of his firing path, firing his beam pistol and sniper rifle at the Massacre. At that moment, the low power alarm went off. John scowled. "Damn. Looks like playtime is over."

Kevin grabbed his left beam saber and charged at the Farsight. But as the Massacre was halfway there, a pair of railgun rounds sped towards it's path. Kevin stopped the Massacre and the rounds missed him by a few feet.

"Well, you're not my doppleganger, but you'll do." Chris said before firing at the mobile suit.

"Pest!! Die!!" Kevin roared, firing at the Raven.

"Whoa..." Chris said, pulling a series of quick evasive maneuvers. "You alright John?"

"Yeah but I'm low on power."

"Pull back. I'll keep him company."

John nodded his head. "Kira and Athrun are nearby, battling the others. Regroup with them."

The Farsight turned and started to leave. "No! You're not leaving yet!" Kevin shouted, heading after it.

Chris drew a saber and lunged at the Massacre. Kevin spun around and blocked with his own saber. "You gotta go through me first." Chris said.

* * *

The Dominion

"Captain! ZAFT lifepod approaching. It's broadcasting a distress signal." the radar controller said.

Natarle was bewildered by the move. Was this that prisoner the ZAFT Commander spoke of? "What are they thinking, launching a pod like this without waiting for any sort of reply?"

Azrael smirked with enjoyment. "That's a vexing question. Do they want us to recover it, or perhaps destroy it?" he said, "If this is some kind of trap, it's an odd one. So what should we do?"

Natarle didn't answer, as her ship rocked from the impact of enemy fire from the Archangel. The lifepod had to wait for now.

Simultaneously, the Luther and the Washington, and their mobile suits battled the 11th Fleet and their allies. Both Agamemnon-class warships fired at the Odin with their cannon. "Evasive maneuvers!!" Captain Lee shouted.

The Odin pulled to the left, evading most of the beams. But two beams grazed the right side of the warship, cutting two long gashes along the ship's hull.

"Captain! Atmosphere venting in subsections 36 through 39!"

"Seal off those compartments!" Lee ordered. "Target the nearest Agamemnon and fire! And what the hell are the mobile suits doing out there?!"

The Odin fired at the Luther, but it managed to evade the twin beams from it's cannon.

Nearby, the Surge sliced a Strike Dagger in two. The Buster fired it's gun launcher at another Dagger, destroying it. But more Daggers approached. "Damn. All they seem to do is crank more of these tin cans out." Dearka said, firing off his missiles.

The Neo Blitz appeared out of nowhere, igniting it's beam saber and slicing through a Dagger from behind. "Come on." Nicol said. "The Odin needs some help."

Saul chuckled. "Saving my sister's flag. I'm gonna enjoy this."

The trio headed the Luther, the closest of the two Alliance warships, dodging fire from Daggers and the warship's vulcans. Saul struck first, skimming across the top of the ship's hull. He targeted the several of the Luther's vulcans and fired, destroying a number of the ship's anti-mobile suit guns. Nicol followed, going after the main cannons of the ship and fired his beam rifle. The cannons exploded. As this happened, Dearka moved towards the rear of the warship. His target, the Luther's engines. He combined his gun launcher with his high-energy rifle and fired. His shots hit the engines, heavily damaging them and crippling the warship's ability to move.

"They've weakened the ship! Fire!" Lee ordered.

The Odin's beam cannons fired. The beams tore the Luther's nose, penetrating deep into the ship. Luther stood there for a moment before explosions ripped through the ship's hull, destroying it.

* * *

Almost on the other side of the battlefield, the Freedom and Justice were still caught in the firefight with the other three enemy mobile suits. Seeds had shattered in their minds, but even that didn't seem to be enough to give them the edge over the Calamity, the Forbidden and the Raider.

The Forbidden fired it's cannon. Kira and Athrun barely managed to evade the onslaught of curving beams. "Terminate!!" Clotho shouted, throw his spherical breaker at the pair.

Kira blocked the weapon with his shield and fired at the black machine. But Clotho dove out of the way. The Calamity fired it's cannons at the Justice. Athrun sidestepped Orga's shots and threw one of his beam boomerangs. Orga dodged the weapon.

Suddenly, a barrage of beams tore through the area. Narrowly missing the Calamity. Everyone stopped and turned to the source. The Raven, in it's mobile armor mode, flew towards them. The Massacre behind it, firing wildly.

"Kevin! What the hell?!" Orga shouted. "Are you trying to kill me, you lunatic?!"

"Yeah!" Clotho added. "And that copycat is mine!"

Chris shook his head. "Not this again." he said, transforming and then firing at the Raider. "I'm the original. You're the copy."

The Raider immediately took off after the Raven, dodging it's shots. "Shut up!! I'm gonna tear you apart!!"

* * *

The Dominion

"Captain Badgiruel, the Luther had been sunk and we've lost fifty-percent of our Strike Daggers."

Natarle couldn't believe it. With the lose of the Luther and half of their Strike Daggers, they wouldn't be able to stay in the battle much longer. Especially with the incoming ZAFT forces. Just then, a scream of static turned her attention over to communications. "What is that?"

"It's the signal from the lifepod, ma'am. It's being broadcasted over an international rescue channel." The operator answered. "Shall I clear it up ma'am?"

"Yes."

Static faded somewhat as the voice started to come through. "Archangel...ese help me..."

Natarle gasped. She knew that voice.

* * *

The Archangel

The same message was heard over the communication lines of the Archangel. It was hard to believe, but the voice was very familiar. They all knew who it was.

Miriallia glanced over her shoulder. "Sai, isn't that-"

"Yes." he said. "It's Flay."

The bridge crew were surprised to hear her voice. They couldn't help but wonder where she had been all this time and how she ended up inside a ZAFT lifepod.

* * *

"Who is that?" Azrael asked. "What's this all about?"

"It's Flay Allster." Natarle explained. "The daughter of the late Vice Foreign Minister George Allster."

Azrael raised an eyebrow "Are you serious?"

Before she could say more, Flay continued her calls. "Please! That man gave me the key!" she yelled, her voice filled with fear. "The key to end the war!"

Everyone was baffled by her words. Certainly it was enigmatic, but the Dominion's captain wasn't about to stand back and wait for any more developments.

"Get me the Calamity!" Natarle ordered. "Have Ensign Sabnak retrieve that pod immediately!"

Elsewhere, the Raven pulled away from the battle, transforming into it's mobile armor mode. "Hold on Flay. I'm coming." Chris said as he flew for the pod.

But at the same time, the Calamity broke off its attack and headed for the pod. Kira and Athrun saw this, but were unable to help because of their ongoing battle with the rest of the Extended. Chris reached the pod first. "I got you Flay!" Chris shouted, reaching for the pod.

For the first time in a long time, Flay felt truly happy. "Chris!" he shouted in joy.

But Chris hadn't realized that the Raider was still chasing after him. "No you don't, copycat!" Clotho shouted, firing his hammer at the Raven.

"Chris! Behind you!" Flay shouted.

But it was already too late.

The hammer hit it's target, tearing through the Raven's left side. There was an explosion in the cockpit. A piece of shrapnel impaled his left bicep as a smaller piece smashed through his helmet's visor, cutting into the left side of his face. Chris screamed in pain, clutching his bloody face. At that moment, the Calamity picked up the pod.

"FLAY!!" Chris screamed as the Calamity flew off with the pod while a seed shattered in his mind.

"CHRIS!!" Flay screamed as she helplessly watched the Raven slip further and further away.

Ignoring the pain of his injuries, Chris roared as he chased after the Calamity. But the Raider and Massacre fired on him, forcing him to dodge their shots, but he continued on after them. The Raider threw it's hammer at him again. But he turned and sliced through it with one of his sabers. Chris turned and pursued the Calamity. Fortunately, the Raven was faster than the Calamity. He caught up to the machine and grabbed it's back.

"What the hell?! Get the hell off me!!" Orga shouted, trying to shake him off.

"Let go of her!!!" Chris yelled back, trying to pry the pod from the Calamity's fingers.

"No!! Someone get this punk off me!!"

The Raider, in it's mobile armor mode, appeared. It ignited it's Ahura Mazda sabers, heading for the two. Chris saw him coming. He had no choice. If he stayed on the Calamity, the Raider would cut through him and likely into the Calamity. Destroy both machines, and Flay's pod in the process. He had to let go.

He released the Calamity, spun and fired at the Raider. Forcing Clotho to stop and evaded the shots. The Raider transformed back and fired. Chris dodged, but his vision briefly blurred. His wounds were beginning to affect him. But he couldn't stop now. He had to save Flay.

Clotho fired his railgun again. Chris sidestepped the shots. But this time, he wasn't fast enough. A round grazed the Raven's right leg. Suddenly, a barrage of beams flew past the Raider. The Freedom approached the pair.

"Chris! Fall back! There's nothing you can do!" Kira shouted as he pulled alongside the Raven.

But he couldn't go back yet. He had to save her. Chris turned to chase after the Calamity when Kira grabbed the Raven's arm, stopping him from. "Let me go dammit!" Chris shouted. "We have to save her!"

But the Calamity was already nearing the Dominion. It was too late.

"Get back to the Archangel." Kira said. "Ms Badgiruel is the captain of that ship. She won't let anything happen to her."

Chris gritted his teeth. _'He's right. But...'_ He sighed. _'I never should have let her go at JOSH-A. None of this would have happened.'_

"Chris?"

"Yeah yeah. I'm going." he replied, heading for the Archangel.

* * *

The Archangel

"Ma'am. The Raven's been damaged and is returning." Miri said. "They couldn't rescue Flay in time."

Murrue grimaced. They couldn't do for Flay now. But at least with Natarle as the captain of that ship, Flay would be safe aboard the Dominion.

"Captain Ramius."Commander Waltfeld said. "We're about to make our move."

She nodded. "Understood. Fire the signal flare. Recall all mobile suits." she ordered. "Bring us to the Eternal's position."

Upon her command, flares shot out and exploded in brilliant lights. The remaining mobile suit pilots all saw the flares and started their return their respective ships.

* * *

The Dominion

With the pod now on board and a portion of the ZAFT forces had reached their position, Natarle knew they had to withdraw. Due to the destruction of the Luther and much of their complement of Strike Daggers, they wouldn't be able to survive a battle with the ZAFT forces. "Recall all our remaining mobile suits! Once all units have returned, we'll pull back from this sector!"

The Dominion fired it's own retreat flares. And the surviving Alliance forces began their withdraw from the battle.

The Vesalius shook as it was hit again and again by the combined fire of the Eternal, the Kusanagi and Valkyire. Fires erupted within the ship as damage spread across the ship. Nearby, the Burton shuttered as the Valkyire's GuAIZs fired on it. One GuAIZ fired at the Burton's main cannons while another fired on it's engines. The cannons and the engines exploded. Leaving the ship crippled.

"The Burton's lost it's main cannons and engines!"

"We've lost control of the plasma surge!"

Ades gritted his teeth as the three warships started to through the newly formed opening in the ZAFT line. The Vesalius was finished. But if this was going to be his final battle, he would at least die with some honor. "Keep on firing!" he ordered. "We need to stop them for as long as possible!"

By now, the Archangel, the Odin and the Einherjar had caught up with the rest of their forces. The Freedom, the Justice, the Buster, the Surge and Neo Blitz had all taken up defense positions around the three ships. Everyone watched as the Eternal and the Kusanagi fired one final barrage at the already dying warship. As the warships and their escorts drove through the breach, Athrun, Dearka, Nicol and Saul gave a departing salute out of respect to what had been their ship and it's crew.

The Vesalius then exploded in a massive fireball.

Rau watched his flag's destruction emotionlessly. "All remaining troops, we're retreating!" he ordered. "Regroup at coordinates Delta Zero."

The loss of the Vesalius and Ades's death were of no concern to him. Once Flay handed over the disk she carried to Azrael, the last stage of his ultimate plan would be set in motion.

* * *

The Dominion

With the last of the mobile suits aboard and secured, the Dominion and the Washington took off, heading back to the Moon.

Flay, meanwhile, had been escorted to the bridge. She was nervous...No. She was scared. This ship was like the Archangel. But it wasn't. They were the Archangel's enemies. Which meant she wasn't any safer here than she had been with ZAFT.

"So you're Flay Allster."

She turned to see Azrael approaching her. His eyes locked on the disk she held in her hands and grin on face. "So, is this that key you mentioned?" he asked, reaching for it.

Before she could react, Azrael plucked it from her hands. "Y...yes." she nervously answered.

"Interesting." He mused, examining the disk. "Where did you get this?"

"From a ZAFT officer named Le Creuset. He wears a mask."

Azrael's eyes lit up and his smile grew even wider. He quickly left the left the bridge, heading for his quarters.

At that moment, Natarle rose from her chair, surprising Flay. "It's good to see that you're alive, Miss Flay." She said with a slight smile. "Are you well?"

Flay, finally broke down and began to cry. Seeing this, Natarle wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, allowing the teen to let it all out.

* * *

The Hanger

"Director Azrael congratulates you all on a job well done." the voice of one of the doctors said over the comm.

The four Extended were barely aware of his words. The pain of withdrawal blocking the outside world as they flailed and screamed in agony. The cockpit hatches of their machines opened up. Standing on the catwalks was a doctor carrying four vials of the medicine that would take the pain away. The four pilots immediately unbuckled their safety restraints. They moved as quickly as they could in zero-g, tearing off their helmets. They all quickly drank up the bitter medicine.

Almost instantly, the pain shrank to a dull ache in their entire bodies. Clotho, Kevin, Orga and Shani all let out a sigh of relief as they limply floated there.

* * *

The Archangel

Murrue entered the infirmary. Mu, who had been treated for his injuries, was sitting on one of the cots, an IV in his arm. He was flipping through an old photo album. She glanced at the old book. "What is that?"

"We found that inside the colony." Mu explained. "No, actually Le Creuset pretty much gave it to us."

Mu turned the page. There was a photo of Mu and his father, smiling. "The thing I remember most about my father, was that he was arrogant and unreasonable." he said in a weary tone. "He was always belittling other people. He looked on just about everyone. He died when I was just a kid. But he still seems to haunt me."

"What do you mean?"

"As crazy as it sounds, Rau Le Creuset is clone of my father. And a failed one at that." Mu said. "He ages too quickly. Because of short telomeres. At this rate, he may not even last a few more years. He's a man with no past and no future, and maybe no true identity."

"So he wants to take the entire world down with him somehow?"

Mu slowly nodded. "But I won't let him do that. Even if it costs me my life, I promise I will stop him."

Murrue gently ran her fingers through his hair. "Please don't say things like that."

Mu twisted his head and saw the look in her eyes. All his anger and frustrations melted away. "I'm sorry." he said before their lips met in a kiss.

* * *

Chris walked through the corridors of the Archangel's crew quarters. A bandage on his left cheek and his left arm in a sling. He was lucky. The chuck of shrapnel that hit his arm, just missed the bone. He'd be fine in a week or two.

But that didn't matter. He had failed to rescue Flay. She was right there. And she slipped out of his hands. He punched a wall in frustration with his right hand. He hadn't been strong enough. He had failed her.

"Blaming yourself because of what happened to Flay?"

Chris glanced over her shoulder. "She'll be safe with Badgiruel on that ship." his grandfather said, approaching him.

Chris sighed. "I know. But I had her. She was right there. And I couldn't stop them from taking her."

Samuel put a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "She'll be fine. No doubt the Dominion is heading back to Moon. She's not a soldier. They'll ship her back to Earth."

It did little to make him feel better. Suddenly, he remembered that lab. He pushed those events into the back of his mind during all the fighting. He couldn't deal with it at the time. But now...Now he needed answers.

"Inside Mendel...I learned some things. I need to know. Who were my parents really?"

* * *

The Eternal

Cagalli hurried through the corridors of the Eternal. Kira had asked her to come aboard the ship. Apparently, he had found something important in the colony. She entered the room Kira was in. Inside was Kira, Athrun and Lacus. "Thanks for coming Cagalli." Kira said, handing her a picture frame.

She let out gasp as she held it. Her hands shook as she pull out the photo her father had given her. They were two copies of the same picture. Where had this come from?

"Kira?"

Kira started to shudder and looked away. The memories of that place coming back as fresh as when they happened. He was about to speak when there was a knock at the door. "I'm sorry to disturb you." Martin said from the other side of the door. "But General Dante has asked for Kira and Cagalli to come aboard the Archangel as soon as possible."

Cagalli opened the door. "We're kinda busy here. Did he say why wanted to see us?"

"Not exactly. He said he had some things he need to tell you about what happened in Mendel."

Kira immediately perked up. He had forgotten that Creuset had revealed that Chris's parents were apparently involved in what happened there. Perhaps his grandfather could fill in the missing pieces.

"Tell him we'll be there in a little-"

"No. We'll go now." Kira said.

Cagalli turned to him. "Kira?"

"I think he can fill in some of the missing pieces behind these photos and what I found at Mendel." he answered.

Cagalli nodded. She was just as desperate for answers. "Then lets go."

"Kira, I would like to go as well." Lacus said.

This surprised Kira. "Lacus?"

"Then I guess I better go as well." Athrun added.

* * *

Azrael's Quarters

The Dominion

Azrael inserted the disk he took from Flay into his computer and opened the files. He was very eager to see what Creuset had given him. First to come up with the complete schematics of the Freedom and Justice, which was a goldmine in of itself. As he had suspected, they were nuclear powered, which explained their amazing capabilities. With the information, the Atlantic Federation could easily build new mobile suits that outclassed even the GAT series. But then he found an even better prize. The words 'N-JAMMER CANCELER' appeared on the screen and Azrael's eyes lit up as his lips stretched into a grin. Every piece of data needed for the device was now in front of him. He laughed maniacally in triumph. Now the Earth Alliance could regain its nuclear weapons capability, and throw it at the Coordinators in full force. The greatest gift of all had been dropped right in his hands.

"Perfect!" he shouted as he laughed the laugh of the mad and the dammed. "This is all too perfect!"

* * *

Next up, some of the secrets of Mendel are revealed and the build up to the Battle of Boaz. Maybe the battle as well, depending on how it plays out. Then the final battle at Jachin Due. I'm so very excited.

Now, I cut out much of the battles with Kira, Athrun, Chris and the Druggies. Mainly because they're going to be involved in most of the major fights at Jachin Due and I felt that some of the other characters should get some fight time.

Review!


	33. Phase Thirty Two: Glimpse of the Past

Yo everybody. I'm back. I got some things to clear up. First, for the name poll, only logged in reviews count. Not anonymous reviews. And why hasn't more people voted?

Exia00: This is the last chance, either give me your OC profile in a review or make an author profile on the site and send me a PM with the profile

**Phase Thirty-Two: Glimpse of the Past**

The Archangel

Kira, Cagalli, Lacus and Athrun entered the Archangel's pilot briefing room. Inside was Chris, his sister Elizabeth, and their grandfather, Samuel. Chris and Liz sat in chairs while Samuel was standing at the speaker's podium. "Ah... Kira, Cagalli. Good. We can start now. All of you take a seat." he said.

The four sat down next to Chris and Liz.

"How's your arm, Chris?" Kira asked, taking note of the bandages on his face and arm.

"I'll be fine." he replied, waving him off.

"Now. Things have been revealed that I planned on revealing to you all soon. Once we had secured things at Mendel, I was going to explain this all to you." Samuel said. "But things did not turn out that way."

"Now, I have never set foot in Mendel myself, but I have the one of the few surviving records of what happened." he explained, pulling out a pocket hard drive. "I had wanted to explain this all to you when the Archangel first arrived at Orb. As did Lord Uzumi. Since Cagalli and Kira met as they did, we felt it was time to explain the truth of your pasts'. However, when Lord Uzumi and I spoke with the Yamatos about revealing this, they refused. Forcing Lord Uzumi and I to wait. Your mother Kira, is quite a formidable woman."

Kira didn't say anything. "And whatever you think Kira, that woman is as much your mother as the woman in the photograph." Samuel added.

He cleared his throat and plugged the drive into a port on podium. "What I hold here is the audio logs my son made during his stay at Mendel. It is his words that can best explain what happened at Mendel. My son David and his wife were not medical doctors as they told you."

"Then what were they?" Liz asked.

"Geneticists." he answered, pushing the play button.

_**April 25, CE 50**: "This is Dr David Dante. We've arrived at Mendel. I must admit, I am still a little leery about Hibiki's offer. But if he can come through with his promises of a state-of-the-art lab and proper funding, than I can't complain about what he wants. Even if it is a stupid goal. His desire to create a prefect Coordinator, devoid of any of the natural flaws that occur their development in the womb. While I support finding ways to ease the pregnancy and birth on the mother and the reduction of miscarriages, things like making sure the eyes and hair are the right color, is nothing more than vanity. In the end, it has no real value to humanity."_

"_Tomorrow, Claire and I will be visiting the lab for the first time."_

_**April 26, CE 50**: "It seems Hibiki was not lying after all. The lab there is easily the largest and most sophisticated laboratory I've ever seen. It will be more than adequate for our purposes. However, as expected, most of our colleges are less than pleased to have us here. Many refuse to even acknowledge our theory on the Superior Evolutionary Element Destined Factor. Though we do have a few supporters. One of the doctors that will be working under me, Dr. Yushiro Kamakura from the Republic of East Asia, is a big supporter of our theory. A fellow Coordinator and former mentor, Joseph Durandal, is also a strong supporter. Of course, the man has some interesting ideas of his own now. I spent half an hour with him. In that time, he spoke of only two things. His son, Gilbert if I recall correctly, whom I understand is quite brilliant, even for a Coordinator. And how he seeks to use science to unlock man's destiny. Whatever that means. Heh heh...And people consider my ideas strange. But the man is entitled to his beliefs."_

"_Though there is one man that makes me well uncomfortable. Dr. Mikhail Andras. When I voiced my concerns over the man to Claire, she brushed me off. Saying I was being foolish. But I know what I saw. I caught Andras looking at me with a look of utter disgust."_

"_I don't trust the man..."_

"_Aside from that, things look good here. I feel that we can perhaps accomplish great things here."_

_**May 10, CE 50**: "Hibiki and I had a long disquisition today about humanity's future. He clings to his foolish belief that humanity's future lies in the Coordinators. That if he can the perfect the process to create Coordinators, future generations of Coordinators will become perfect. 'Minds smarter than geniuses', bodies stronger than Olympic athletes.' as he put it. They will be the first step towards the next level on the evolutionary ladder."_

"_He's wrong. We Coordinators are but a stepping stone. The SEED is a part of mankind's future. But I think that's not the only part I've found. A few weeks after Claire and I published our theory on the SEED Factor, a blind priest named Malchio approached us. I admit, I had expected the man to tear into us for writing the article. Instead, he believed in our work. And it was during our conversation that we discussed other phenomena that may be linked to the SEED. He brought up things I had never even considered. A high degree of spatial awareness. Precognitive abilities. Telepathic abilities. And other unexplained abilities among certain humans."_

"_That is when I thought, 'What if the SEED Factor and all of those unusual abilities are branches of the same mutation? The mutation that will lead us the next step up the evolutionary ladder. And with the advancements in Genetics and the rise of the Coordinators, we have the chance to speed up our climb up the ladder."_

"_Naturally, Hibiki laughed at the idea and said that I was just taken in by 'fringe' science and that it wouldn't lead anywhere."_

"_Jackass."_

"_But Claire and I have tolerated far, far worse. I'll endure my peers'...disapproval, if it means a chance to prove my theories true."_

_**March 24, CE 51**: "Our research has been going smoothly. We've discovered several genetic markers that are linked to these mutations. Oddly, only a few are linked to the SEED Factor. Perhaps my initial theories were wrong. Or perhaps the SEED Factor has evolved the farthest from it's origin. More research is needed."_

"_There was also something interesting today. With the ongoing renovations, I've been getting lost quite frequently. I happened to discover a room I had never seen before. Inside were a number of frozen fetuses in capsules. Curious to what this room was, I hacked a computer terminal inside the room. All of the fetuses were labeled Al Da Flaga Number 002, Al Da Flaga Number 003, Al Da Flaga Number 004, and so on."_

"_They were clones. A lot of them. And I recognized the name of the late industrialist Al Da Flaga. Curious about these clones, I began to study their DNA on the computer. Some of the markers were present in their DNA. In fact, they have the most makers present in their blood than anyone I've studied to date."_

"_But apparently my hacking didn't go unnoticed. Just as I as logged out of the computer, Hibiki arrived. I figured that he was going to yell at me and possibly throw both me and Claire out of the late. Instead, he explained that these were the clones of Al Da Flaga, the man funding the labs. Even after his death. Apparently all he had in return was a army of clones. Believed that he could live forever though these clones. When he died, the first clone would take his place. When that one died, the second clone would take his place and so on."_

"_What a fool. Cloning was outlawed for a reason. It didn't work. The clones were born the same genetic age as their donor was when the samples were taken. A clone of a thirty year old would be born with a genetic age of thirty. When it reached twenty, they'd be fifty genetically._

"_Their lives will be pitifully short."_

"_I asked Hibiki if I could study the clones' DNA for my project. He agreed and even offered me some of the clones. They meant nothing to him. But to me, they could be the key to everything."_

_**August 10, CE 51**: "Things have been progressing far better than I had expected. I've left Claire and Yushiro to study the DNA and identify the genetic markers linked to these mutations. While I have taken to resuming the work we did before we moved to Mendel. The study of the people with these markers themselves."_

"_I've realized that my early theories on the SEED Factor and the mutations were wrong. While they share certain genetic markers, they are separate from each other. Having one doesn't not necessarily mean having other as well. But both seem to be more prevalent among the entire population than I first thought. Yet few ever display either. Perhaps for most, an external factor is required. But what?"_

"_I am now more confident than ever that if we discover the secrets behind these mysteries, we will have the key to humanity's future as a species. From Naturals and Coordinators to a new type of being."_

"_Hmm...Newtype...Yes... I like that. That's what they shall be called. Newtypes."_

_**October 15, CE 51**: I was right! The information we've gained in these past months from Da Flaga's DNA has opened up all new possibilities! We've managed to locate most, if not all of the genetic markers linked to the SEED Factor and Newtypes."_

"_Needless to say, everyone is quite ecstatic in the lab. Everything we have worked for is coming together. We expect to begin experimenting early next year. And that will be the difficult matter..."_

"_Most people don't realize that George Glenn was the first true Coordinator. There were dozens of children before that could considered Coordinators that came before him. But no one remembers them. Nor do they remember those that came before Glenn and didn't survive..."_

"_Let's hope that I don't loose as many..."_

_**January 20, CE 52**: "Things are progressing smoothly so far. We are almost ready to begin. In a couple of weeks, we'll begin. I must admit, I am quite nervous. I wonder if the scientists that created the process to create Coordinators felt this way went they began their experiments. Do I have the right to do this? Should I be doing this, unnaturally speeding up something that should occur naturally?"_

"_No. We've come this far. We must see it through."_

_**January 24, CE 52**: "Hibiki claims he's perfected his artificial womb and asking that everyone that can, help out with his 'Ultimate Coordinator' Project. I have opted to stay out of it. As did most of the leaders of the other projects. Hibiki was disappointed but understanding. We have our own projects to worry about."_

"_Plus I just don't believe in the artificial womb. Especially if the track record of the previous versions are any indication. Lives must be born. Not manufactured."_

_**February 4, CE 52**: The first generation has been seeded. We've impregnated twelve volunteers. Once the embryos reach the proper stage, we will begin the genetic enhancements."_

"_Hibiki's lost two embryos in his artificial wombs already. So far, it looks like he's got another round of failures coming."_

_**April 27, CE 52**: "The pregnancies have been difficult for the mothers so far. Two backed out and the fetuses were aborted. But all things considering, the project is going smoothly. We've moved the mothers into the labs, where they're being monitored at all times by several members of my staff. I'm not taking any chances."_

_**July 13, CE 52**: "Things have not gone smoothly. There have been two miscarriages in the last week. I don't understand what went wrong. We were monitoring the women closely. What they ate. The amount of daily activity they preformed. What medications they received. There is no reason for this to have happened."_

"_Fortunately, none of the mother's died. That would have caused some major problems for us had any of the mothers died. But-"_

"_Sorry to interrupt Doctor, but we've lost subject 010."_

"_And the mother?"_

"_She's survived."_

"_Alright. Have the fetus brought here for study immediately."_

"_Yes Doctor."_

"_Make that three miscarriages in the last week...I...I'll finish this later."_

_**October 29, CE 52**: "This first generation has been nothing but a spectacular failure. We've had three more miscarriages, bringing the total to six. And the four children that were born....were born deformed... Physically and neurologically."_

"_I had them euthanized. They shouldn't suffer because of my mistakes. But I swear, I will study my mistakes and solve them. I don't want anymore children to suffer like that."_

_**January 21, CE 53**: "We're still desperately trying to find every conceivable factor that could have contributed to failures of the first generation. It has been difficult to say the least."_

"_But we're not the only ones. As I predicted, Hibiki has become stalled under more failures. But the man has stubbornly refused to throw in the towel. He recently told me that with each failure, he comes one step closer to success."_

"_Personally, I don't see any success coming from that project in the near future."_

_**July 1, CE 53**: "I believe we've corrected the errors that caused the failures of the first generation. But I'm hesitant to try again on human subjects. I want to make sure I get it right this time. Even if it means years of work. But much of my staff, including my wife, are urging me to start the second generation of test subjects. They believe that we won't get anywhere without more testing. But I honestly don't know what to do now."_

"_But they aren't the only ones. Hibiki and many of the others are looking down on me and my work more. I believe back when I was doing the first experiment, they may have actually believed that I may actually be right. But now they laugh at me and mock me behind my back. Though Hibiki might actually be pleased at my failure. He's been trying to get me to abandon my research and work on his project. Which still has yet to produce any real results as well."_

"_Wait and study more, or push on and see what happens. What should I do?"_

_**July 8, CE 53**: "Yushiro has recently found out that his wife, Ami, is pregnant. They've volunteered their unborn child as a test subject. We were all stunned by this. It's one thing to have a woman off the street volunteer, it's another to have someone you know quite well volunteer. But they are fully aware of the risks and willing to risk it."_

"_If they're willing to take that risk, than I must push on. I must stop worrying. Risks are a part of life. We...I must take them if we are to succeed. I've been too afraid of repeating my mistakes. The only way science will ever advance is if we take risks. If I don't succeed, then at least, I'll have laid down the foundation for future scientists to continue and prefect."_

_**July 13, CE 53**: "It's been done. The second generation has begun. Ami and eleven other women have agreed to it. One of the other women is Via Hibiki's younger sister, Caridad Yamato. Tomorrow, we'll be beginning the enhancements of Ami's child. The other mother's have another week or so before we begin their enhancements."_

Kira tensed. He was the Yamato's only child. He knew how it was going to end.

"_We're taking a different approach this time. Rather than performing all of the enhancements in a single procedure, we're spreading it out of the course of a week. Hopefully, this will allow both mother and embryo to better adapt to what we've done."_

"_Also, Hibiki has become more insistent that the staff of other projects help out with his project. He claims that he's on the verge of a major breakthrough. I have told him that my project has reached a critical stage and that diverting resources to his project would damage my own project. He relented, but has applied even more pressure to the other projects."_

"_That jackass is too caught up his own project for his own good. He doesn't give a damn about everyone else's project. Probably never did. He just wanted the best scientists in the field of genetics in this building so that he can use us to further his own research."_

_**November 25, CE 53**: "So far things have progress much smoother than last time. The pregnancies have been difficult but less than the pregnancies before them. And only a single miscarriage. Not bad considering the early miscarriage rates of Coordinator births."_

"_But I am growing concerned for Caridad. Not because she's having problems. Far from it. But I fear she's becoming attached to the child in her womb. When she first volunteered, she felt that she wouldn't make a good mother and felt she was too young to. And I told her, as I told all the other women, do not get attached to the child. Due to the fact that most of the volunteers are women who need the money we pay them for volunteering, this hasn't been a major issue. But now I fear that having this child has changed her mind. Her husband, Haruma, has told me that the other day he caught her picking names for her unborn child. This does not bode well for us should she lose the child."_

_**January 20, CE 54**: "I haven't updated this log in few weeks. Things have been quite hectic as of late."_

"_Hibiki has been demanding that everyone help out with his Ultimate Coordinator Project or he'll cut the funding to everyone else's projects. Most of us have taken to calling him, the Iron Womb Tyrant or more 'unpleasant' names behind his back. Yushiro thinks that Hibiki subconsciously wishes he had been born a woman so he could bear children and his project is really an extension of that wish. And that a night, he sneaks into the lab and cuddles his artificial wombs."_

"_Heh heh heh...ha ha ha..."_

"_But I've relented to his demands. I've divided my staff in two and put them on rotations. One half works on Hibiki's project for a week while the other have works on our project. Once the week is done, we switch places. Not the most efficient way of doing things, but we have little choice in the matter. Hibiki controls the lab and the money. We have to bow to his wishes."_

"_Hibiki is so wasteful. He's going through embryos and fetuses like there's no tomorrow. Few fetuses survive to an advanced stage of development, but he always aborts them anyway. He claims it's to ensure that the Ultimate Coordinator will be the best."_

Kira grimaced at the actions of his biological father. Lacus, seeing his reaction, reached out and held Kira's hand. Kira gently squeezed her hand back.

"_I still believe that Coordinators are only a stepping stone, not the future of humanity. Newtypes are the future. Perfecting Coordinators will not improve humanity as a whole."_

"_But he, like a many of my colleges, view Newtypes as just a fantasy. However, some of my colleges have become intrigued. Joseph, in particular, has become very interested in my Newtype research."_

"_Speaking of him, his son, Gilbert, has recently graduated from university. Joseph has offered him a position in the labs here. To my surprise, Gilbert asked to be put on my project. I accepted his request. He may be a teenager, but he is quite brilliant. I am curious to see how well he does here."_

"_Also, the situation with Caridad has not improved. I tried to talk to her. But she's become fixated on becoming a mother. She wants this child now. I've warned her that there's the possibility that her child may not survive the pregnancy or worse. But she doesn't care. It's her child and she will rise them regardless of the outcome. Both Via and Haruma have tried to convince her that things could go wrong as well. But she refuses to see it. I hope for her sake, that they are just over worrying about it."_

_**March 11, CE 54**: "Most of the second generation has been born with mixed results. Only Ami's child has yet to be born. While four children where born safely and without any deformities, six were either stillborn or just as badly deformed as the last generation. Among those six, Caridad's son."_

"_While the child was born successfully, it suffered severe physical and neurological deformities. The child would have lived a short, pained life. Haruma and I agreed that the child's suffering should be ended quickly as a mercy. But Caridad refused. I can still hear her screams of 'Murderers'."_

"_I...I...I just can't do this right now. Signing off."_

_**March 20, CE 54**: "Ami died giving birth yesterday. It had been a long and difficult birth and in the end, her body gave out. But she did live long enough to see her daughter for the first and last time. She named her Misuumi before passing on."_

"_I had thought Yushiro would blame me for what happened. But he didn't. He told that they knew the risks and accepted them."_

"_Unfortunately, most of the special enhancements we created didn't take in most of the children. They are little more than Coordinators. But the initial looks at Misuumi's DNA have given me hope. Some of the markers didn't take, but a number of them did."_

"_Not quite the ideal Artificial Newtype I had envisioned, but a likely prototype of my vision."_

"_We are close. So very close. I just need to prefect it."_

_**March 26, CE 54**: "Damn him! Damn that Iron Womb Tyrant!!"_

"_I've been trying to figure what exactly has been causing the problems we've been experiencing when Hibiki said that it was the mother's fault! He had the gull to say that it was the mother's fault that we had limited success in our experiments. He than added that had we used his artificial womb, we would have succeed by now. That his machines are the only way to succeed."_

"_Barely kept myself from decking him right there. He's lucky Yushiro wasn't in today. Or he would have killed Hibiki."_

"_But as much of a jackass he is, Hibiki did raise a point that I had not considered. The parents of the child. And I wasn't the only one to realize that. Gilbert did as well. We need to study the DNA of the parents of the children that lived. If there's something linking them all together, than we can determine which parents could successfully give birth to an Artificial Newtype."_

"_And Gilbert raised another point I had ignored. All of the parents of the child have been Naturals. We haven't tried it on a Coordinator couple. If the parents are Coordinators, or at least the mother, it would likely increase the chances of a successful birth."_

"_If we can get that down, we can then work on finding a way for anyone to have a Newtype child."_

_**April 21, CE 54**: "Something rather interesting as happened. A week ago, Yushiro reported several unusual instances involving his daughter. He claimed that there had a few instances where he instinctively knew his daughter was hungry without her giving an physical indications. He described it as, 'I would be holding her when this sudden feeling that she was hungry entered my mind. She wouldn't cry or give any other indication that she was hungry, yet somehow I knew she was hungry.'. Curious, Claire and I took care of her for much of the past week. And we both experienced it a few times ourselves. But it only seemed to work if one of us was in physical contact with her. But it only happened a few times. The rest of the time, she cried like a normal child."_

"_There was one other instance of unusual behavior. On Saturday, we took her for a stroll through a nearby park. For most of the trip, she had been quiet. But when we approached a playground full of playing children, she suddenly started giggling like someone was playing with her despite the fact she was still in a stroller. Perhaps she was feeling all of the positive emotions from the other children."_

"_Part of me thinks that these are signs of Newtype abilities. But the more rational part of me says that I don't have enough information to determine whether or not she has developed such abilities."_

"_Yushiro brought her to the lab so he and Gilbert ran some tests on her. Oddly, she wouldn't stop crying the moment he brought her in. No matter what we did, she wouldn't calm down. They did manage to preform some tests. There were some slight odd activity in her brain. But beyond that, nothing out of the ordinary. Regardless, we shall keep a close eye on her as she grows up."_

_**May 19, CE 54**: "We've done it. We've located the genetic markers that will determine how likely a child with the Newtype genes will be successfully born to a couple. Out of curiosity, I ran a check on the DNA of everyone working in the labs. Some of the results were surprising. Yushiro had a many of the markers in his DNA. His late wife had only a few, which may have contributed to her death. Hibiki and his wife share a large number of the markers needed. Though I haven't told him that. His ego is be enough as it is."_

"_...And both Claire and myself have number of markers. Something I am less than pleased about. For one simple reason."_

"_Claire is pregnant."_

"_She hasn't told me yet. I've seen her exhibit the early signs. I know she's going to asked me to use our child as a test subject."_

"_But I need to stay impartial. If my child becomes a test subject, how can I remain impartial and unbiased?"_

"_But on the other hand, I have the prefect conditions right here, right now. Parents with the ideal DNA and a Coordinator mother to increase chances of a successful birth."_

"_I need to think on this matter."_

_**May 21, CE 54**: "Hibiki's increased the pressure on everyone. He says there's not enough funding to go around. Unless the other projects start showing real success, he's going to start closing them down. However, should they assist in the completion of his project, it would speed things up. Which means the funds would flow again that much sooner."_

"_In other words, stop your projects for now and help me with mine and once it's complete, I'll give you back your funding."_

"_When I confronted him about this, Hibiki laughed in my face. Saying that the time for quack theories is over. And that only real science belongs here. Either I bring him results or he's closing me down."_

"_Damn him! All that matters to him is his dammed Ultimate Coordinator Project. Everyone can go to hell unless they help him. We're practically there but he refuses to see it."_

"_The blind fool. He's pushed me to this."_

"_I'm going through with it. If he wants results, I'll give it to him. I won't just create a Newtype for him, I'll create the greatest Newtype that will ever be born!"_

"_I will not allow Hibiki or anyone else trample on my dream! I will show them all that my theories are not quack theories! My child will be a Perfect Newtype!"_

Liz, who knew her brother's birthday, had already done the math. She turned to her brother, a fearful, questioning expression. Chris only nodded his head once, not looking at her.

_**June 19, CE 54**: "The Mendel Labs now have only two projects running instead of the dozens it once had. Hibiki's and mine. All of the other project teams have either left or joined one of our two teams."_

"_Hibiki is become less than pleased at this. The mild respect we held for each other is gone. Now, our rivalry has become vicious. Neither of us is willing to let the other win. It's a competition to see who can create the next step of human being. And I'm pleased to say that his latest prototype is another failure. Though the boy has survived while those that came before him have not. Hibiki was furious at his latest failure to say the least. I understand he's had the child dumped at an orphanage."_

"_Where has everything is running smoothly with my project so far."_

_**September 22, CE 54**: "Hibiki's getting desperate. He's following in my footsteps. Via had recently become pregnant with twins. So what does Hibiki do, he takes one embryo and puts it in his artificial womb."_

Kira's eyes widened. It was true. He had been born from an artificial womb.

"_It is a truly odd thing. To have a twin sibling that was grown in an entirely separate womb. Would they still be twins? Could the child in that machine be truly considered born? Or would it be considered manufactured?"_

"_Whatever the case, i imagine that any child born of that machine would likely suffer psychological problems if they ever learned how they came into this world."_

"_This action has also strain his relationship with Via. Which isn't all that surprising. From what I've heard, she didn't exactly agree to having her child placed in that machine."_

"_As to my project, things are progressing smoothly. Clarie is having some difficulties, but nothing serious."_

_**Janurary 8, CE55**: "It seems that Via and Hibiki are have serious problems. Far more than I had first realized. Via is furious at Hibiki for taking her second child. I caught the two of them arguing in a hallway. It sounds like she's done with his whole project and him. I won't be surprised if she sued for divorce. Hell, I'd be willing to testify for her."_

"_The jackass deserves it. I would never do such a thing to Claire. She willing volunteered for this. Via didn't."_

"_Speaking of Clarie, she's doing fine and is expecting any day now."_

_**January 12, CE 55**: "It's happening. It's finally happening! Claire went into labor a few hours ago. The labor hasn't ended yet. But I'm sure she'll make it. As will our child."_

"_They have to..."_

_**January 13, CE 55**: "It's finally over... I nearly lost them. Both of them. But it's over now."_

"_At 2:37 am, on January 13th, Clarie gave birth to a healthy baby boy. We named him Christopher, after Clarie's late father."_

Cagalli, Athrun, and Lacus turned to Chris, stunned by this. He had closed his eyes and had a slight grimace on his face. His right hand resting on the bridge of his nose.

"_I should be happy. They both made it through alright. Everything likely went has planned, but I still need to check Chris's DNA. But I haven't done it yet."_

"_All I can think about are Via's words to her husband form a few days ago. 'What is this all for? For his sake or for your's? Will this bring our child happiness?'"_

"_I need some time to think about things."_

_**January 29, CE 55**: "I'm closing down the project. I've realized that I've lost touch with why I was doing what I was going. We all did."_

"_What I had tried to make my son into, failed. While he does have the genetic makers, he hasn't displayed anything else like Misuumi has. Scientifically, he's a failure. But I don't care."_

"_All I can think of now, is my arrogance and those children that suffered because of it. I had wanted to help humanity. Instead, my arrogance and vanity led me to playing God. Led me to believing that I could speed up humanity's evolution."_

"_I never stopped to consider if Newtypes were truly the next step in human evolution or just a new, separate species of man."_

"_No matter. I am through with creating Newtypes. Yushiro and some of the others have tried to convince me to stay and continue working. They wish to continue working but I have no desire to stay. I think I understand now why Misuumi cried the entire time she was here. She could tell what this place really was. A man made Hell. We strove to make life better for all of humanity. Instead, in our arrogance, we created our own little Hell. Where the most innocent of people suffered. For no reason beyond our own arrogance."_

"_We're going to move back to Orb. To continue our original research. Studying those with the SEED Factor and natural born Newtypes."_

"_Never again will I set foot in this hellhole."_

_**January 30, CE 55**: "A change of plans. Via has asked us to stay. She needs our help to get her children away from Hibiki. So I will stomach my dislike for this place for awhile longer. It is the least I can. As a means to work off some small fraction of the sins I've committed."_

"_We can't doing anything now with one child in the artificial womb. But we will bide our time for now until after they are born. Then we will strike."_

_**May 18, CE 55**: "The twins were born today. From Via's womb, a girl. Cagalli. From that machine, a boy. Kira. Hibiki's so called Ultimate Coordinator."_

Cagalli gasped. Why they were here suddenly made sense. Then she gasped again, realizing everything that they had just heard. She wasn't the only one. Athrun, Lacus, and Liz had their own gasps of surprise.

"_We can't move just yet. But we have it all planned out. On June sixth, while Hibiki is at the lab, we'll just take the twins and leave. We've already booked at flight to Heliopolis. My younger brother and his wife moved there a few months ago. Then we'll head to the Orb homeland. I've spoken with my father, he has arranged a meeting between us and Lord Uzumi. Hopefully, he'll help us hide the twins from Hibiki."_

_**May 29, CE 55**: "Dammit...I was right all along! Andras was up to something! He's working for Blue Cosmos! He told them everything we were doing there and they came to kill us all. Hibiki and Via are dead. As are much of the staff. _

"_...Yushiro is dead too. He shielded me from one of the gunman. I would have died as well if it wasn't for the fact that my father had taught me how to fight and shot a gun with I was child. I don't know if Joseph or any of the others managed to escape."_

"_But there is some good news to this. Both Claire and Christopher are safe. As are Cagalli and Kira. When the attack on the lab happened, I knew they would head after them. I managed to escape during the attack and raced home. After I grabbed Claire and Chris, we went to Hibiki's residence. Kira and Cagalli were being cared for by Caridad and her husband. As we made our escape, a couple of Blue Cosmos thugs attacked. Fortunately, we lose them. Barely."_

"_But I couldn't fulfill Yushiro's dying wish. We couldn't stop to get Misuumi. It was too dangerous. I pray she's safe but there's nothing more I can do."_

"_Damn Andras! Damn those Blue Cosmos bastards!"_

"_We've been hiding out for a good six hours now. It's not safe for us here anymore. But undoubtedly, they have men keeping an eye on the spaceports. But I've got a plan. I'm going to the lab's computers into thinking there's been a biohazard outbreak, at the highest level. This will trigger the emergency evacuation alert in the colony. People will be rushing to the spaceports and it's unlikely that the men watching the ports would stick around during a colonywide biohazard evacuation. After we escape, we'll head to Heliopolis and then Orb as planned. We'll be safe there. David Dante signing off."_

With that, the recording ended. "After that, the seven of you entered Heliopolis for two weeks until my son, Claire and the Yamatos were able to take you to the Orb homeland. That is when I first met the three of you. I took them to Lord Uzumi. We all agreed that we needed to keep you hidden from those that would either seek to duplicate what happened at Mendel, or kill you what you are. So we did everything in our power to keep you safe. I believe you already know what happened next. Lord Uzumi adopted Cagalli while the Yamatos took Kira to Heliopolis. And my son and his wife took Chris to Junius Seven. There, they, as he said they would, continued their original research."

"But why separate us?" Kira asked.

"To help keep you safe. Blue Cosmos would be searching for twins. If we kept you apart, it would help decrease the chances of them not realizing who you really were."

"Wait. This is crazy! Newtypes, Ultimate Coordinators, artificial wombs. It's nuts!" Cagalli said, completely stunned by this whole revelation. "This can't be real!"

"It is." Samuel said, pulling out an old photograph. "The labs at Mendel were started for the betterment of mankind. Instead, that dream became warped by their arrogance and ambition. They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. And no where was that more true than Mendel. Everything you have heard was true."

He approached Cagalli and handed her the photo. "This was taken on New Year's Eve CE 52." he explained.

The photo was of a New Year's Eve party. Cagalli instantly recognized one person in the photo, the woman who was her birth mother. Next to her was a blond haired man with amber eyes. Just like her. Liz leaned over to look at the photo. Her eyes widened as her finger pointed at another couple in the photo. "That's mom and dad!"

The couple was smiling with champagne glassed raised in their hands. The man had dark brown hair and green eyes while the women's hair was a lighter brown and she had gray eyes.

Cagalli shook her head. "I...I...This is just so unbelievable."

"I know. I didn't believe it myself when I first heard it. It's true." Samuel replied.

"Then just what am I?" Kira asked, lost and confused.

"Kira. You are you. That's all that matters. Whether you're a Coordinator, Natural or something else, doesn't matter." Lacus said, still holding his hand. "You are a kind person Kira. That's who you are."

Kira stared into Lacus's eyes. "Lacus...I..."

Samuel cleared his throat. "Ah...Young love... Would you like us to leave the room for a moment?"

Both teens' reddened in embarrassment as Samuel chuckled. He then turned to his grandchild, his expression turning serious. "Chris, Liz, how are you taking this?"

"I...I'll be fine." Liz answered. "It's a lot to take in."

Chris opened his eyes and looked up. "I'll be fine as well. I just needed to know who my parents were. And nothings changed, they are still the people I thought they were despite what they've done. But there is one thing that is bugging me."

"What?"

"What happened to that girl, Misuumi?"

Samuel frowned. "After the authorities realized it was a fake biohazard, your parents tried to find out what happened to her. But she disappeared." he replied. "That was one of your father's biggest regrets. He never forgave himself for not finding her. Any other questions?"

"No. I think you've answered everything." Kira said. "Thank you."

Samuel nodded. "It was my pleasure. You deserved to learn the truth about this whole mess."

* * *

And that's it. Next up, Operation Peacemaker.

As always, review!


	34. Phase Thirty Three: The Nightmare Reborn

Yo everybody! I would have had this chapter up last night, but it kept on growing and growing. Last night, I was nearly done with it at thirteen and half pages. But I kept on writing and it grew to eighteen pages. But here it is.

Name Contest Results (so far):

Virgil: 2  
Nero: 2  
Alexander: 1  
Everybody else: 0

The poll is still open and going, so vote if you haven't. Remember to stop possible cheating, I will not accept anonymous reviews.

Exia00: I will use your OC. But there are some changes and things I need to do to him. And sadly, I can't reveal them to you unless you create a FanFiction profile. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait like most of my other fans.

Finally, before I begin, my good friend Maileesaeya has remade her rewrite of my story. Her new one is called Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Dauntless. I urge you all to check it out. It is far better than mine. At least, the early chapters when I first started writing.

"_Do you really think that you can beat this mobile suit with that toy?" _Zane Scirocco

Mobile Suit Serial Number: ZGMF-X14A 'Retribution'  
Unit Type: Prototype assault mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact nuclear fission reactor  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor, Neutron Jammer Canceler  
Armament: 2x 'Devastator' 125mm high-energy long range cannon, mounted backpack, positioned over shoulders, 2x 'Punishment' 320mm multi-phase energy cannons, with mounted beam bayonet, hand carried, attached to the underside of each arm, 4x MMI-GAU2 'Picus' 76mm CIWS, two mounted in head, two mounted in chest, 2x 'Executioner' beam sabers, stored on hips  
Pilot: Zane Scirocco  
Appearance: Basically, the Providence without the DRAGOON backpack and the funnels on the hips. The backpack is replaced with a backpack with energy cannons like the Calamity and a longer skirt, reaching down to the shins.  
Color: Black torso and pack with red trim. Dark red arms, legs, and cannons. Head is dark gray with red trim.  
Info: The latest ZAFT nuclear mobile suit. Designed as powerful long range artillery mobile suit, the Retribution can deliver a tremendous amount of firepower from long range before it's enemies can reach it. And unlike other artillery units, the Retribution is just as formidable as at close-range as it as at long-range. Capable of switching to it's bayonets and sabers with ease.

**Phase Thirty-Three: The Nightmare Reborn**

Ptolemaeus Lunar Base

Azrael entered the conference room. There was a table lined with chairs in the center of the room and a large screen on the far wall. He sat down, facing the screen. He pushed the call button on the phone sitting on the table. "I'm ready."

A moment later, the screen turned on. The leaders of Earth Alliance appeared on the screen.

"Ah. Gentlemen, I trust you've gotten the data I've obtained. As well as my proposal."

"Yes. It's quite a coup you've managed Azrael, obtaining the data on the N-Jammer Canceler. However, we're not sure about your idea of an all out nuclear attack."

"Indeed. The energy crisis here on Earth has reached critical levels. We should focus on that first."

That would not do. They needed to deal with the Coordinators first. They were, after all, the biggest threat to humanity. "How can you say that? Especially at a time like this!" Azrael said, slamming his on the table. "If we don't attack now, we're not going to win this war! Once we've dealt with the Coordinators, we'll be able to devote all of our time and resources to solving the energy crisis. Besides, we've used nuclear warheads in the past. So why hesitate now?"

"You did that on your own."

Azrael shrugged. "Nuclear weapons aren't something you just collect. They're powerful weapons. We must use them. After all, we spent good making them so that we could use them. Let's hurry up and fire them. And then this war will all be over. So what will it be gentlemen?"

* * *

Several Weeks Later

Natarle and her newest communications officer, Flay, watched as the spaceport was filled with activity. Crews were rushing supplies, mobile suits and mobile armors onto the various warships. At the far end of the hanger, Natarle could see special cargo containers being loaded onto the Doolittle and three other Agamemnon-class ships. As Captain of the Dominion, she had been briefed on the full details of Operation Peacemaker. While the main assault force distracted the Boaz defense forces, the Dominion and the Peacemaker Force slip through and attack Boaz with nuclear warheads.

She didn't like the plan. But she was a soldier. She had her orders and her duty to carry them out. Even if she didn't like them.

"The Sixth and Seventh Orbital Fleets will leave orbit and commence a direct assault on the defense satellite Boaz at 1200 hours tomorrow." a voice said over the intercom.

Soon it would begin. The question now was, how would it end?

* * *

ZAFT Space Fortress Boaz

The Next Day

"Come on! Let's push this Natural scum back to the Moon!" a GINN pilot shouted as he lead his comrades towards the approaching Earth Alliance forces.

Moebius mobile armors and Strike Daggers battled GINNs, CGUEs and GuAIZs. The mobile armors were little more than cannon fodder. But their numbers distracted the ZAFT machines, allowing the Strike Dagger to easily catch many of them off guard. The older GINNs and GuAIZs found themselves being overpowered by the newer Strike Daggers. Only the more experienced pilots could match the newer Daggers. While the GuAIZs were the superior mobile suits on the field. But their limited numbers weren't enough to turn the tide of the battle in ZAFT's favor.

It was a bloody stalemate. A GINN effortlessly gunned down three Moebius mobile armors, only to the be picked off by a Strike Dagger. A Nazca-class fired it's cannon, hitting and sinking a Nelson-class ship. A pair of Agamemnon-class warships fired their main cannons at the Nazca-class. The beams tore through the ship, gutting it. A GuAIZ fired off it's arrestors at a Dagger, tearing the mobile suit apart. But as the cables retracted, another Dagger fired, avenging his fallen comrade. Only for a CGUE to shot that Dagger from behind.

* * *

Jachin Due

Yzak, Shiho and Saya entered the briefing room. Due to the lack of experienced pilots, the three of them had been transferred to their own larger team with Yzak in command. Unfortunately, the rest of their team was rookie Greens fresh from the academy. As a result, the second they opened the door, they were flocked by a number of overeager rookies. "Commander Joule! Is it true? Is Boaz under attack?" one of the pilots asked.

"Those damn Naturals!"

"Do we have any information on the enemy's strength and the situation?"

"Do we have orders for launch?"

"Are we going-"

"Enough!!" Yzak shouted, silencing the rookies.

"The attacking forces have been estimated at being two large fleets. As well as a large number of their new mobile suit." Yzak explain. "Admiral Kessel is ordering all available forces be deployed to reinforce Boaz. That includes us. We're going to board the Noin and head out there as soon as possible. So get to you mobile suits. Now!"

There was a chorus of "Sir, yes sir!" from the pilots before they rushed out to the hanger. "Wow. They're...really eager." Saya commented.

"I recall that you the same way when you first joined the team." Yzak said as the three of them headed for the hanger as well.

Saya stopped. "I wasn't that bad!"

Yzak glanced back. "Yeah you were."

* * *

Patrick Zala's Office

Aprilius One

Rau Le Creuset, Ezalia Joule and a number of ZAFT officers and officials were watching the battle of Boaz play out when the doors opened and Patrick Zala and his entourage entered the room. Everyone immediately turned to the Chairman. Ezalia was the first to speak. "Your Excellency, the-"

"There's no reason to panic." Patrick said, interrupting her. "An attack on Boaz by their Lunar fleet isn't an unexpected action."

He turned to several of his aides. "Have we gotten in touch with all branches of the armed forces?"

"Yes sir."

"Media censorship?"

"Done sir."

Patrick nodded and turned to the military officers. "I want a full status report now."

"Yes sir."

* * *

The Dominion

As the battle raged, second, smaller Alliance force approached Boaz, away from the main battle raging on. It was the Dominion and four Agamemnon-class warships. The Dominion's catapults opened. The Calamity and the Forbidden were launched, followed by the Raider and the Massacre. The mobile suits took the lead as the group continued for Boaz.

* * *

Aprilius One

"The Naturals are fools for thinking they can take Boaz." a smug Ezalia commented.

An aide approached Patrick. "Sir, Admiral Kessel has been organizing the force at Jachin Due to reinforce the garrison at Boaz and drive the Earth Forces back."

Zala smirked, not caring who was organizing such a force. "Yes...Let's crush that pitiful force at Boaz. Have all nearby forces move to reinforce Boaz. We're going to destroy every last one of them."

Rau found this all so amusing. Azrael and Zala had been so easy to manipulate. It was always those who believed themselves impossible to manipulate that were the easiest to manipulate. They believed themselves to be controlling their side and this war like a chess player. In reality, he was the player and they were nothing more than his lowly pawns.

Perhaps it was time to stoke the fires one last time before Azrael unleashed the Alliance's surprise. "Chairman Zala..."

Zala glanced over his shoulder. "Yes. What is it Le Creuset?"

"I'm sure the Earth Forces are well aware of the strength of Boaz's forces and that defeating them would be no easy task. But I can't imagine they'd attack it if they didn't have something up their sleeve."

Patrick raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. "What are you getting at?"

* * *

Boaz Command Center

"Sir. Unknown machines detected at Indigo 13, Mark 66, Bravo. They're mobile suits. Four of them."

Commander Brom, the commander of Boaz turned to the controller. "What? Only four?"

"Sir. Just confirmed. They're the same ones reported by the Le Creuset Team. Behind them are one Archangel-class and four Agamemnon-class vessels, distance 500."

"Have Rearguard Teams Three through Six move to intercept." Brom ordered. "If they think that will be enough to take Boaz, they're sorely mistaken."

* * *

"Look at all those guys." Orga said as ZAFT forces moved to intercept them.

"You know what I see?" Clotho asked. "Targets!!"

Shani snickered as a wild grin spread across Kevin's face as the four pilots raced towards their approaching enemies. "There's so many. I don't which one should be first." Orga said, taking aim at a number of ZAFT mobile suits. "I know! All of you!!"

Orga fired all of the Calamity's guns at once. Destroying five ZAFT mobile suits. A GuAIZ fired it's beam rifle at the Forbidden. But the beam harmlessly bounced off the machine's beam deflection shields, surprising the GuAIZ pilot. "No one takes a shot at me and gets away with it!" Shani shouted, bringing his scythe through the machine's torso.

Kevin fired his Ragnorak beam cannon at GINN, but the pilot managed to evade his shots. "Eat this!" he shouted, switching to his Gatling guns.

The pilot tried to evade the beams and bullets, but there was too many shots being fired. The GINN was pierced numerous times by the Massacre's weapons. The GINN didn't explode, rather it virtually disintegrated under the barrage.

Nearby, a CGUE aimed it's beam rifle at the Massacre's back. But before it could fire, the Raider's hammer slammed into it's side, practically splitting the mobile suit in two. "Ha ha ha...These guys are pathetic!" Clotho said as he fired on more ZAFT mobile suits.

* * *

Aprilius One

The report of the small Alliance strike group had reached the group gathered in Patrick Zala's office. But none of them were alarmed by this. "They're only regular mobile suits and a few new models. They're kidding themselves if they think that will be enough to take Boaz." Ezalia said, brushing off Rau's concerns.

"Let's just hope that's the case." Rau replied.

Patrick wasn't quite as convinced as Ezalia was. Especially if it was coming from Rau. "What are you trying to say, Le Creuset?"

"It's difficult for me to say, but as you know, there are a number of wild cards in play. Like the Freedom, the Justice and Lacus Clyne."

Patrick's face turned into an angry scowl. "Are you trying to say that they may have once again acquired their nuclear capabilities?"

"I know. It doesn't seem possible. Yet..."

* * *

The Clyne Faction Fleet

The six warships of the Clyne Faction were hiding in a small debris field, somewhere in between both the PLANTs and the Alliance's lunar headquarters. If anything happened in space, they would be ready to intercept it.

...But not at the moment. At the moment, they were being resupplied by the ReHOME and a small group of other Junk Guild ships. Leaving them unable to do anything until they were done.

"Do you think the Earth Alliance will be able to take Boaz?" Murrue asked her fellow ship commanders.

"Probably. They wouldn't have attacked ZAFT's second strongest base unless they thought they could do it." John replied.

"Then the Alliance will have a clear path to Jachin Due and the PLANTs themselves." Andrew added.

"But the Alliance will not have an easy time of it." Kisaka pointed out. "Boaz's forces will be able to hold them back for quite a while."

John scratched his chin. "Yes...That is something that's bugging me. The Alliance has been building up their forces at the Moon for weeks now. Yet they only sent two fleets to attack Boaz. While it would be enough to conquer the Boaz, the battle will be needlessly long, drawn out and bloody."

Andy nodded. "I known. I can't figure that out either. I would have thought the Alliance would have tried to quickly take Boaz with overwhelming numbers before pushing on through to Jachin Due."

"Yeah. It's like they don't care about own their attack. Which can only me they have something else planned. As there been any movement from the Moon?"

Murrue shook her head. "No. Nothing has left the Moon since the Alliance battlegroup left."

"Then I can't help but wonder what they have under their sleeve for this attack."

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

"The Alliance is attacking Boaz. What's the status of the Raven?" Chris asked his aunt. "Have you got it fixed up?"

Johanna grinned. "Of course it's repaired. Who do you take me for?"

Chris simply shrugged.

"You know, you two match now." she added.

Chris absently traced the horizontal scar just under his left eye. He shrugged again. "I guess so." he said. "It amazes me that this is the first time I was ever really hurt piloting the Raven."

"What can I say? We built these machines to be tough. Look at their track record. The Aegis and the Blitz were destroyed, yet their pilots survived. The Strike was nearly destroyed, yet Kira survived. If you get shot down in one of these machines, it's likely that you'll survive even if the machine doesn't."

Chris chuckled. "It certainly looks that way."

* * *

The Dominion

Azrael smirked as they watched the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre, and the Raider tear through the ZAFT forces with ease. "I like what I see. I've heard only complaints about them since their first battle. But they've really improved since Orb."

At that moment, Captain Sutherland contacted the ship. "It's time. We're deploying the Peacemaker Force." he said.

The four Agamemnon-class warships opened their hangers, launching scores of Moebius mobile armors, armed with a single, large missile. A nuclear missile.

The force of mobile armors headed for the Boaz. "Okay boys. Protect the Peacemaker Force." Azrael ordered.

The four Biological CPUs immediately turned towards the strike force, cutting through any ZAFT forces that got in their way. "You heard him. Let's tear through these guys!" Orga said, firing at a GuAIZ and some GINNs.

A GuAIZ, having seen the mobile armors, moved to intercept them. Only to be shot in the back by the Raider. "Oh no. You're not done playing until I say you are." Clotho said.

"Die!" yelled Shani as he fired his plasma cannon.

The curving beam caught several ZAFT mobile suits, destroying them.

Kevin laughed as he rained destruction upon the ZAFT forces that tried to stop them. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Die insects!!"

It didn't take long for the four of them to clear out a path for the Peacemaker Force. Soon the mobile armors were in firing range. "Say your prayers, space monsters!" one pilot said, locking onto Boaz.

"For the preservation of our blue and pure world!" another added.

The pilots fired off their missiles. The nuclear missile streaked towards Boaz. No one could stop them. The missiles hit Boaz. The nuclear explosion quickly spread across Boaz's exterior and interior. Consuming everything in a nuclear firestorm. The battle outside Boaz stopped as everyone watched the destruction of Boaz.

"Whoa..." Orga said in awe.

"Awesome!" Clotho added.

"Pretty..." Shani whispered, staring at the nuclear explosion in a trance.

Kevin, on the other hand, was torn between awe and disappointment. "It's over? I wanted to fight some more."

* * *

Jachin Due Command and Control Room

"What's our status? How teams are ready to deploy for Boaz?" Admiral Rebbecca Kessel asked.

She wasn't the base commander, she just happened to outrank him. Under her authority, teams were being scrambled from Jachin Due to reinforce Boaz. She did not want to take any chances. Boaz was the first line of defense for the PLANTs. Any lunar based fleet would have to come through Boaz before they could attack the PLANTs. If Boaz fell, all that remained to protect the PLANTs was Jachin Due.

"The Joule Team, the Yazan Team, the Gato Team and the Scirocco Team are ready to go. The Ashta Team, the Evin Team and the Cehack Team will be ready in ten minutes Admiral."

"Send the Teams that are ready to go. We cannot lose Boaz."

"Admiral! A massive energy and radiation surge detected at Boaz!"

"What?! Identify!"

"It's...No..."

"What is it?" Rebbecca demanded.

But the officer was frozen from shock. She moved over to his console and saw with her own eyes what had happened.

"Cancel that last order! All nearby ZAFT forces are to return to homeland at once!!" she ordered, struggling to keep her own fear out of her voice. "The Earth Alliance just nuked Boaz and their forces heading for Jachin Due and the PLANTs!! All surviving Boaz forces are to make for Jachin Due as quickly as possible! All ZAFT forces are to reinforce Jachin Due immediately!!"

Some officers rushed to carry out her orders. But others were too stunned by the news of the nuclear attack on Boaz. Rebbecca slammed her fist on the console. The sound echoed through the large chamber. "What are you waiting for?! We can't afford to wait!! That fleet will becoming here next!! And the only thing that stands between them and our homeland is us!! The forces here at Jachin Due!! We cannot afford to be sitting around!! Get to work!!"

The remaining officers immediately resumed working rather than risk incurring her wrath.

* * *

The Dominion

"Even ZAFT's space fortress are no match for nuclear warheads." Azrael said with a smirk.

Natarle turned to him. "Director Azrael. They may be our enemies but don't you feel any remorse for using nuclear weapons against them?"

"I never expected to hear that from a professional soldier." he replied, that smirk never leaving his face. "Compared to someone like you, I'm practically a saint. There are plenty of commanders out there who willing send out their soldiers to die in a battle they knew they couldn't win."

Azrael stood up from his chair. "Now. Set course to the PLANTs. After we're done there, this war will finally come to an end."

Flay could only watch on in silent horror at what she had inadvertently caused by delivering Rau's disk. Had she truly known what was on that disk, she would have destroyed it rather than had it over. But she didn't. And because of that, all of those people had died. Because of her...

* * *

Aprilius One

Just about everyone was stunned by what they had just seen. "Those damn Naturals!!!" a furious Patrick Zala shouted as they watched Boaz become consumed by nuclear fire.

Ezalia took a step towards him. "Your Excellency-"

"Hurry and put up a defense line at Jachin Due!" Patrick ordered, cutting her off. "Le Creuset."

"Yes Chairman Zala."

"I'm going to Jachin Due. We'll counter with GENESIS."

Rau suppressed his smirk. "Yes sir." Rau paused for a moment. "Sir, may I request that my protégé be assigned the Retribution? I can think of no one more capable to fly that machine than him."

Patrick nodded. "Do it."

An officer approached the pair. "Your Excellency, Admiral Kessel is already mounting a defensive line at Jachin Due."

"Inform her that I am relieving her of command. I will command our forces personally. This is too important to trust to anyone else."

* * *

The Eternal

Kira and Athrun entered the Eternal's bridge as the engines of the six warships started up. "Lacus. Is it true? The lunar fleet is attacking Boaz?" Kira asked.

"No. Things have moved beyond that. ...And in the worst possible direction." Lacus replied, her tone worried and sad."

"According to the information received from our sources, Boaz has already been destroyed. With nuclear weapons." Waltfeld added.

Both teens were stunned by the announcement. Lord Uzumi's words echoed in their minds.

"_The Earth Forces' present actions are being guided by the leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael. To make matters worse, the PLANTs are led by someone who believes Coordinators are a new species, for Patrick Zala rules them now. The way things are developing, the world will soon be trapped between two forces who refuse to accept each others' existence."_

His words rang true. Because of men like Muruta Azrael, the Earth Alliance was ready to wipe the PLANTs and the millions of innocent lives living there. And now, no doubt, ZAFT would respond in kind.

"The Earth Alliance fleet is heading to Jachin Due." Andrew said. "But they'll likely stop to resupply and prepare for the attack. And we're heading to Jachin Due as well."

* * *

The Dominion

A Few Hours Later

Natarle stared out at the fleet being resupplied. They were within striking range of Jachin Due and the PLANTs. Tomorrow, they would attack the ZAFT homeland itself.

Natarle's mind was drawn back to Murrue's words and Azrael's words.

"_This isn't only about what happened at Alaska, or even what happened to Orb. We have serious doubts of the entire Earth Alliance as a whole. Therefore, there will be no surrender and no return to the military."_

"_You may be the captain assigned to command this ship. But there are people higher up that have to look at the larger picture here."_

The Earth Alliance military was becoming less and less like the military she knew. The

At that moment, Flay floated into the observation room.

"You would have been better off if you had remained on the Lunar Base. Just because you decided to stay on board, doesn't mean that you'll meet up with the Archangel again."

"I need to see him again..."

"Who?"

"Chris." Flay answered. "I need to see him again. To thank him for everything he's done for me. I was a different person when I first met him. Spoiled. Stuck up. I really only cared about myself. But then I met him, and eyes started to open. Then my father died and he helped me deal with all of my grief and anger."

Natarle sighed. "Well, from this point on, the war is only going to get worse. We'll see a lot more of what happened earlier. Are you prepared for that?"

Flay's eyes started to water. Her mind on what happened at Boaz and all the lives lost. All because she listened to _him_. She scowled. "That man...He said that if I gave the Earth Forces that disk, the war would end!"

Natarle hung her head. "The war will end. When every enemy has been destroyed." she said in a tired, bitter tone.

* * *

Jachin Due

The Next Day

ZAFT had gathered every mobile suit and pilot they could muster. Even trainee pilots that had small amount of actual flight experience, were given GINNs and added to the defense forces. Numerous Nazca-class and Laurasia-class vessel formed a defensive line around Jachin Due and the PLANTs.

Near Jachin Due, another massive force had assembled. The Earth Alliance fleet stood ready. With Agamemnon-class and Nelson-class battleships surrounded by the more numerous Drake-class escort ships. Amid the fleet, was a lone Archangel-class assault ship. The Dominion.

Suddenly, the engines of the Earth ships powered up. The fleet started it's advance toward Jachin Due, launching countless mobile suits and mobile armors. The ZAFT forces instantly scrambled to engage the invaders. Their own warships advancing as they launched their mobile suits.

The second battle of Jachin Due had begun.

* * *

"_After the Bloody Valentine, we refrained from retaliating against the Naturals with nuclear weapons! Instead, we took the humane path! We removed the ability to use nuclear weapons! We had hoped and prayed that they would never be used again! But once again, the Naturals have shattered our hopes and prayers! We will never let those barbaric Naturals drop a single nuclear weapon on us again!"_

Yzak powered up his Duel as his mother's words were broadcasted across the entire defense force. Behind him, his team was doing the same. "Hell yeah! Let's waste those Natural animals!" one of his pilots shouted.

"Cut the chatter." Yzak ordered. "Now is not the time for that garbage."

Yzak could remember a time, months ago, when he would have been the one saying something like that. But now, that kind of talk just irritated him. It just didn't seem to matter anymore. Naturals and Coordinators. Coordinators were just as capable of committing atrocities in war. So why were the Naturals always called barbaric and animals when they had done things like the massacre at Panama?

Yzak shook his head. Now wasn't the time for that either. They had to protect the PLANTs from the Alliance and their nuclear weapons. If even one missile hit, it would be the Bloody Valentine all over again.

"_My courageous ZAFT soldiers! Show them our true strength! Show them that we're not to be trifled with! Show them who the new leaders of this world are!"_

The hanger doors opened. "Joule Team, launching!" Yzak said before he and his team took off into space.

* * *

The Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre, and the Raider soared towards the ZAFT forces. "Wow...I think there's even more than last time." Shani said, a grin on his face.

"Although it's hardly any fun fighting against the weak ones." Orga commented.

"Who cares? If they want us to attack them, I'm not complaining." Clotho replied.

"Yeah." Kevin added. "I just hope these insects last longer than last time."

* * *

The Doolittle

"Peacemaker Force, commence launch." Captain Sutherland ordered.

The Doolittle and it's three sister ships opened their catapults. Dozens of mobile armors armed with nuclear missiles took off. Following the path made by the four Biological CPUs.

* * *

The Clyne Faction Fleet

"We mustn't allow a single nuclear missile to hit the PLANTs. If the blade of light stab through the innocent, then it will only lead to endless tears and more hatred." Lacus said to the entire fleet as they readied for battle.

The Eternal mobile suit catapult opened up as the Freedom was loaded onto it. "Kira Yamato. Freedom Gundam taking off." Kira said launching from the Eternal.

The second the Freedom cleared the catapult, the Justice was loaded onto it. "Athrun Zala. Justice launching."

The Archangel's catapults also opened up as the Strike and the Raven were loaded onto them.

"Mu La Flaga. Strike launching."

"Chris Dante. Raven Gundam launching."

The two machines took off, their phase shift activating. The next two machines were loaded onto the catapults.

"Saul Kessel. Surge takin' off."

"Dearka Elsman. Buster launching."

They cleared the catapults and the final two machines were loaded.

"Liz Dante. Athena launching."

"Nicol Amalfi. Neo Blitz taking off."

The Kusanagi's catapult opened, the Kusanagi's Astrays started launching from the ship. Meanwhile, the hanger doors of the Odin, the Valkyire, and the Einherjar, opened. "John Alaric. Farsight II launching."

The Farsight took off, followed by the rest of the 11th Fleet's mobile suits.

"Deploying METEORs." Andrew said as the Eternal released it's two weapon platforms.

Kira and Athrun quickly docked with the platforms, adding to their mobile suit's already impressive firepower.

"The choice we're making maybe one of evil as well." Lacus prayed as their forces headed for the battle. "For we call for peace, but with weapons in our hands. Nevertheless, allow us to break this chain of endless conflict. Give us strength to end this war."

* * *

A Secured Hanger

Jachin Due

Zane, clad in his flightsuit with his helmet under his arm, and a technician entered the dimly lit hanger. They stopped in front of a mobile suit, obscured in darkness. Suddenly, the hanger lits came on, revealing the mobile suit.

"So this is the Retribution." Zane said, admiring his new machine.

"Yes sir. By orders of Chairman Zala, the ZGMF-X14A Retribution been assigned to you."

He nodded and headed for the cockpit. "It's a shame that he's still in that weaker machine." Zane said to himself. "Now he doesn't stand a chance against me."

Zane entered the cockpit and began to power up the Retribution. It's phase-shift activated, turning the from dull gray to a sinister black and red. "It's time for this all to end." he said, taking off.

* * *

Yzak shot down a pair of Strike Daggers, when something caught his eye. He turned to it. A cluster of lights heading towards the PLANTs. The Duel's camera's zoomed it. It was a group of Moebius mobile armors armed with...

"Nuclear missiles!" Yzak shouted in horror. "They've deployed their nuclear missiles!!"

Saya and the other nearby ZAFT pilots turned to him. "What?!"

"Come on! We have to shoot them down!!" Yzak yelled, heading to cut off the mobile armors before it was too late.

The nearby GINNs and GuAIZs sped off as well, towards the nuclear weapons. All of them praying they stop the nukes in time.

A trio of ZAFT mobile suits were suddenly gunned down from behind. "Sorry. But these aren't for you guys." Orga taunted, firing at the ZAFT forces.

Two GuAIZs were almost in firing range when a curving tore through one then the other. "No way. You're not stopping them. They're too pretty." Shani said, slicing through a GINN with his scythe.

Yzak swore. It was the new Earth machine he had seen at Orb and Mendel. They didn't have time to deal with these punks.

"Hey look! That one's different." Clotho said, firing his railgun at the Duel. "I wonder if it's like those other ones."

Yzak dodged the shot and fired off a barrage of beams and missiles. But Clotho spun his spherical breaker out in front of him. Shielding him from Yzak's attack. "DIE....!!" Kevin roared, firing his Gatling guns at the Duel and several other nearby ZAFT machines.

Yzak swore as he dodged the shots. The other ZAFT pilots weren't as lucky or skilled and were killed by the Massacre's guns. He couldn't stay and fight these guys. He had to stop those mobile armors. He was so caught up in the mobile armors and their lethal payload, that he didn't notice Clotho moving behind him. "Finishing move!" Clotho screamed, firing his beam cannon.

He caught Yzak off guard, leaving him unable to defend himself in time. Suddenly, a purple GuAIZ moved between him and the beam. It raised it's shield, blocking the beam. "You alright sir?" Saya asked.

"What are you doing?! You should be going after those mobile armors! Not helping me!"

At that moment, the Peacemaker Force had reached firing range and fired off their missiles. "NO!" Yzak screamed. "Someone! Anyone! Shoot down those missiles!!!"

However, no one was in range to shoot down any of the missiles in time. It was all over...

But then at that moment, a miracle happened. The Freedom and the Justice appeared. Kira and Athrun quickly targeted the missiles and fired every weapon their mobile suits and METEORs had. Numerous beams and missiles struck the nuclear missiles. Many of the missiles exploded, taking those they missed in the ensuing explosions.

Not a single nuclear warhead hit it's target.

All of the nearby ZAFT and Earth Alliance pilots were stunned. None of them could believe that two mobile suits could destroy all those nukes. But their surprise only increased, as the Archangel, the Eternal, the Kusanagi and the warships of the 11th Fleet entered the battlefield.

"Soldiers of the Earth Forces! Stop your attack at once!" Lacus called out. "Are you really aware of the consequences of what you're about to do?"

* * *

The Dominion

The bridge crew of the Dominion were just as stunned as the pilots were. Azrael couldn't believe that the entire first wave of nukes had been destroyed before any of them could reach their target. It just didn't seem possible. But he wasn't too upset. They had another wave of missiles that had yet to be fired and even more nukes on the Doolittle and the other ships.

The Clyne Faction fleet appeared on the main screen as a girl's voice filled the comm channels. "Soldiers of the Earth Forces! Stop your attack at once! Are you really aware of the consequences of what you're about to do? I repeat..."

"Who is that girl?" he asked.

"Lacus Clyne." Natarle replied.

Azrael shrugged. "Well, anyone trying to get in our way is an enemy." he said. "They've been giving us problems anyway. This is perfect. We can get rid of them here too."

* * *

The second wave of the Peacemaker Force fired their nukes. But this time, several pilots were in position to take them out. John took aim with his sniper rifle and fired. A nuke exploded, taking another with it. Yzak, Dearka, Saul and Nicol fired everything they had at group of missiles, destroying them. Mu and Liz fired shots from their beam rifles, taking out several more. Chris fired his railgun. One round struck the nose of a missile while the other hit another missile nearby the first. Both exploded. Very quickly, the entire second wave had been wiped out. The PLANTs had been saved from nuclear annihilation. For now...

"The Freedom and the Justice. So, you've managed to stop the nukes." Zane said, the Retribution approaching the area.

Both Kira and Athrun turned to the approaching mobile suit. Ready for him to attack them. But Zane didn't make any move to attack. "Sorry. But neither of you are the ones I want." he said, flying past them.

Kira and Athrun momentarily stopped as the Retribution passed them. Surprised that he hadn't actually tried to attack them. They would have chased after it, but as soon as Zane passed them, the Extended pilots attacked.

"It's payback time!" Orga shouted, firing on both machines.

Athrun flew up while Kira flew down, dodging his shots. The Forbidden lunged at the Freedom with it's scythe. "DIE!!" Shani screamed, swinging his weapon down.

Kira sidestepped the attack, drawing a beam saber. He quickly swung the saber down, slicing the head of the scythe off. But before Kira could capitalize, Kevin fired on them with his beam Gatling guns. Kira barely managed to get out of the way while Shani lowered his Geschmeidig Panzer system, deflecting the beams.

Clotho threw his hammer at the Justice but Athrun hit it aside with his shield. Athrun then launched his Fatum-00 pack at the Raider, knocking the black mobile suit away. Suddenly, more beams from the Calamity streaked out towards him. Athrun dodged and fired back with his beam rifle. Both pilots missed. The Fatum-00 pack docked with the Justice as Athrun and Orga continued to exchange fire. But so did the Raider, firing it's railgun at the Justice.

* * *

Zane scanned the area, searching for the Raven. "Where are you? Where are you hiding?" he said to himself.

Suddenly, he turned to the left. "There!"

Zane fired the Retribution's cannons.

Chris had only just caught the new mobile suit on his sensors when he saw the beams streaking towards him. He pulled to the left, evading the beams. "Zane." he said, heading for the machine.

"Chris." he replied, continuing for the Raven.

"You won't defeat me. Even with that new machine." Chris said.

Zane laughed. "Do you really think that you can beat this mobile suit with that toy?" he asked. "This is the Retribution. I have more power in one cannon than you have in your entire machine! You can't beat me!"

Zane fired his multi-phase beam cannons at the Raven, but Chris dodged them, drew a beam saber and charged at the Retribution. But before the energy blade could touch the Retribution, two energy blades shot up out of no where, blocking his strike. Chris looked down. A pair of smaller arms, armed with beam sabers, had folded out from the skirt. "As you can see, this mobile suit has a few surprises in it."

Zane pushed the Raven back, activating the bayonets in his cannon. He swung one then the other at the Raven. Chris sidestepped the first blade and blocked the second with his own saber. "A superior mobile suit does not ensure victory!" Chris shot back. "You can't beat me!"

Zane laughed again as the Retribution started to overpower the Raven. "You're a fool. The Raven is becoming an obsolete machine. It's nothing but an old toy compared to this mobile suit!"

* * *

Jachin Due

"How very cute." Patrick commended as they watched the actions of Lacus Clyne's forces. "Have our forces leave them alone. Those traitors and pests are nothing compared to Naturals. They can't stop us. Our preparations are already complete."

"GENESIS is entering it's final stages." an officer said over the comm. "All vessels, retreat from the zone of emission."

"Have our troops clear out of GENESIS's path, Ezalia." Patrick ordered. "Now we'll show them our true power."

* * *

Outside Jachin Due

A massive device suddenly appeared behind Jachin Due. GENESIS. The massive cannon started to moved from behind Jachin Due, it's phase shift armor activating as it took it's firing position. The first external alignment mirror was moved into position.

While most of the mobile suit pilots were too busy in their battles to notice the appearance of the super weapon, the crews of the surviving warship were a different matter. The bridge crews of the Earth Alliance and Clyne Faction ships all stared at GENESIS, unsure of what it was. But they weren't the only ones. The vast majority of ZAFT forces were just as confused by this weapon. They had no idea what this mammoth device was either as GENESIS started to power up.

Suddenly, appeared on the Duel's display. Along with a set of coordinates.

_/// Urgent Warning //_

_//// Priority 1 ////_

_Evacuate all units from zone of emission_

_/// Caution ///_

_GENESIS activated_

Yzak had no idea what GENESIS was. But what ever it was, it was about to be fired in their direction. "Athrun! Dearka! Saul! Nicol! Everyone! Get out of here!! They're firing GENESIS!" he shouted, trying to warn his former teammates.

Athrun towards the approaching Duel. "What? GENESIS?"

"Yes! We have to get out of here now!!"

* * *

Jachin Due Command and Control Room

"All you Naturals, mark this moment well. Let this light usher in the creation of the Coordinators' world!" Patrick said as Rau watched on with an insane smirk. "Fire!"

GENESIS fired...

* * *

The end game has begun. Three more chapters and the epilogue until SEED is done.

As always, review!


	35. Phase Thirty Four: Day of Wrath

Finally, this chapter is done. I'm sorry it took so very long. But after I finished the Chris/Zane battle, it was like I hit a wall and the rest of the chapter was a pain to get done. Probably because I've been in a Warhammer 40k mood lately, and have thought up a bunch of fanfic and crossover ideas for it.

Oh and Digital Darkness, greatest review ever. lol.

**Phase Thirty-Four: Day of Wrath**

"All you Naturals, mark this moment well. Let this light usher in the creation of the Coordinators' world!" Patrick said as Rau watched on with an insane smirk. "Fire!"

GENESIS fired...And hell was unleashed upon the Earth Alliance fleet.

The beam tore through the fleet. Nothing could stop it. Nothing could withstand it. The hulls of even the mightiest ships in Alliance fleet nothing compared to GENESIS's firepower. Dozens of Agamemnon, Nelson, and Drake-class ships were destroyed in an instant, alongside countless Moebius mobile armors and Strike Dagger mobile suits. Their armor of their hulls and machines might as well be made of paper against the powerful beam of GENESIS. In a matter of seconds, one half of the Alliance fleet was gone.

Just about everyone watching was stunned and horrified. The surviving Earth Alliance forces, the Clyne Faction forces and even the ZAFT forces could only stare at the detestation brought upon the Alliance forces.

* * *

Jachin Due Command and Control Room

"GENESIS fired at 60 percent maximum output." a technician reported

"Estimated fifty percent of enemy forces destroyed." another added. "The enemy forces are retreating."

"Commence cool-down. Remove reflector mirror one and move mirror two into position."

Up on the command platform, Patrick Zala and Rau Le Creuset grinned at what they had wrought. "Your Excellency, I am astonished to see how incredible GENESIS truly is." Rau commented.

"There is no point in fighting a war unless you have the means to end it with victory." Patrick replied.

* * *

The Dominion

"Our CSS is destroyed. Requesting permission to return to the ship at once."

"God...How could they do that..."

"Captain! Come in Captain! Do you read me?!"

"Where's the Alexander? Has anyone seen the Alexander?!"

Everyone one was stunned and horrified at just what had happened. The entire fleet was in disarray. Even Natarle was speechless. But she knew that if their surviving forces were to recover, someone needed to take the lead. "Get a hold of yourselves and find out what ships we have left!" Natarle said over the comm, trying to reestablish order amongst the forces of the Alliance. "What's the status of our flagship, the Hood?"

"The Hood's identification code has completely disappeared." the radar operator replied.

"No response from the Cook or the Grant either." Flay added.

With the Hood, the Grant and the Cook gone, the Dominion was now the flagship of the fleet. She glanced at Azrael. The man seemed paralyzed with terror and rage. He wasn't going to be giving any orders any time soon. "Fire the signal flares. All remaining ships are to withdraw immediately." she ordered.

* * *

The Archangel

Though the forces of the Clyne Faction had been out of the field of fire, sparing them from the wrath of the massive beam, they were just as stunned and horrified as the Earth Forces.

"The Earth Forces are withdrawing from the area." Sai reported.

"Captain Ramius, we should also retreat for now." Andrew Waltfeld added.

Murrue nodded. "Yes...Recall all mobile suits."

* * *

Jachin Due

Patrick Zala stood up from his chair. "Courageous soldiers of ZAFT! We can no longer tolerate the aggression of the arrogant Naturals! Once again, the PLANTs have come under nuclear attack! This is no longer a war! It is a campaign of extermination!!!" he shouted. "We can no longer forgive the Naturals who commit these atrocities without remorse!"

"Our new future! For the light of creation is with us! This is a day of history! Making the advent of a bright new world of Coordinators! The new Mankind!!"

The control room filled with cheers and chants of 'Victory'.

* * *

The surviving Alliance forces were in full retreat. However, a number of ZAFT forces were less than willing to let them leave. GINNs and GuAIZs chased after retreating Strike Daggers as ZAFT warships fired on the fleeing Earth warships.

"Stop it!" Kira shouted, firing on a pair of GINNs. "Stop firing on those that aren't fighting back!"

His beams destroyed the rifles and heads of the GINNs, forcing them to retreat and allowing the surviving Strike Daggers to reach the safety of the Alliance fleet. With his job done, he regrouped with Athrun and the two headed back for their fleet.

"This is madness." Chris said as the Raven pulled alongside the two. "As if nukes weren't bad enough, ZAFT creates a...I don't know...a massive death ray!" He let out a sigh before continuing. "The nukes were one thing. We could intercept those. But that thing... How do we stop that thing?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Kira answered.

Athrun could only shake his head and wonder why his father would build such a weapon, much less use it.

* * *

The Dominion

Several Hours Later

Natarle sighed as she studied the causality list. That new weapon of ZAFT had been devastating. Approximately half the fleet had been wiped out by that one attack. In addition, was the losses they had incurred in the battle prior to the attack and during their retreat. The fleet was a mess. At the moment, they were all struggling just to deal with the damage they had sustained.

"That's right! I'm dead serious! This is a result of the negligence shown by you guys at the top by letting this war drag on!" Azrael ranted on the comm to Fleet Command.

Suddenly, his rant was interrupted. "Captain! The Churchill is emitting a distress signal!"

The Fleet had suffered enough losses already. They had to help them out before they lost more good men and women. "Tell them that we'll move to assist them immediately." Natarle ordered.

"Don't be an idiot!" Azrael shouted. "They want backup?! Why should this ship have to help them?!"

"Director Azrael. We have to-"

"All surviving ships are to prepare to resume the attack immediately!" he said, countermanding her order. "We need to concentrate on resupplying and maintenance!"

But that's insane!!" she argued. "You know very well the damage our forces have sustained!"

"Reinforcements and supplies will be arriving from Lunar HQ in no time!" he countered as he moved back to his seat. "You're the one who doesn't understand the situation! Take a look! We cannot afford to leave that thing out there! What do they mean 'the Naturals' barbaric nuclear weapons'?! They can destroy the Earth from there. That device of theirs' is by far the more barbaric weapon. And we have no idea when they'll point that thing at Earth. If we sit back and wait, they'll fire that thing again and it will be all over."

At that moment, their was a flash of light from a nearby explosion. Natarle didn't need confirmation to know what happened. The Churchill had exploded. Natarle scowled but didn't say anything. As much as he hated this man, he was her superior and she had no choice but to follow his orders.

"It's all because you military types gave them all the time in the world to build that monstrosity!" Azrael said. "Maybe it's crazy, but we have to destroy that thing. And the PLANTs. Before they destroy Earth!"

* * *

The Eternal

"They fired a gamma ray beam. The rays were generated by a nuclear explosion at the source and immediately focused into a coherent beam." Erica explained. "Think of it as a giant gamma ray laser. If it was fired at Earth, the extreme radiation would burn the entire planet to a crisp. All life on Earth would be wiped out."

Lacus, Kira, Athrun, Chris, Cagalli, Murrue, John and Andy all quietly listened to her report on this new super weapon of ZAFT. "Do you think they'll fire it again...At Earth?" Murrue asked, worried about this latest development.

"Essentially, the purpose of a weapon of mass destruction is as a deterrent." Andy answered. "However, in this case, they've already been used. Both nukes and that thing. At this point, neither side will hesitate to use them again." He paused for a moment. "The first time I shot someone, it turned my stomach. But after a time, I grew use to it."

"You're saying it's the same with that weapon and nuclear weapons?"

"Isn't it? People have the ability to adapt to anything. Even with battles and killing."

"Is it weapons that give birth to battles? Or is it the human soul?"

"Whether it's nuclear weapons or that weapon, we can't let them fire those things at each other again." Kira said. "If that happens, it will be too late for anything."

Athrun nodded his head. "Yeah."

"Well...I can't think of a more impossible task we've set for ourselves." Chris said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But we seem to have a habit of making the impossible possible. So how are we going to do this?"

"Well, the only thing in our favor is the fact that is cannot fire consecutive shots. My guess is that they need to change the mirrors every time it's fired. But the main section is made of phase shift armor and we have to get through Jachin Due to get to it. And their defenses are quite formidable." Andy commented, studying the layout of the ZAFT forces around Jachin Due.

"Don't worry about that." John said. "The 11th Fleet clear the path for the Archangel, the Eternal and the Kusanagi. But I recommend that we wait until after the Earth Forces start their attack. That way, they'll draw much of Jachin Due's forces away and make things easier for us."

"You realize that you and your guys will be facing down a lot of mobile suits and warships. You realize what that means."

"Don't worry about us, Andy. We'll take anything they can throw at us." the Black Hawk replied. "Regardless of what happens to us, you guys will be in position to attack that monstrosity."

"What about the nukes?" Chris asked. "This will all be for nothing if we take out ZAFT's weapon only to have the PLANTs destroyed by nukes."

"The Freedom and the Justice, as well as some of the mobile suits on board the Archangel, can form a hunter-kill team to intercept the nukes and take out their carriers." John answered. "Once the nukes are dealt with, they can join up with the rest of us."

"How much time until they replace the mirror?" Murrue asked.

Andy scratched his chin. "I doubt it will be much longer. The real question is, will they target the Alliance's main lunar base, or will they target..."

"The Earth Forces will attack nuclear weapons again, won't they?" Kira said.

"Without a doubt." John replied, staring at the map. "No doubt, they're terrified of that weapon. I know I am. They have no choice but to use nukes now to destroy that thing."

"Sirs!" Martin shouted, interrupting the meeting. "The Alliance fleet is on the move! They're resuming their attack!"

"Speak of the devil." John said, already heading for the elevator. "Everybody better get ready. Things are about to get chaotic again."

Andy moved towards his command chair as Athrun, Chris, Cagalli, and Murrue headed for the elevator. Kira followed, but stopped when Lacus called out to him as she headed for him. "Kira."

"Lacus." Kira said, catching the floating girl.

He glanced at everyone in the elevator, they all just smiled and John pushed a button, closing the elevator doors. A moment later, the empty elevator came back and the two teens entered it. As the elevator traveled, Lacus pulled something out of her pocket. A silver ring. "Kira, there's something I want you to have."

"Thanks." he said, accepting her gift.

Lacus stared into his eyes. "Please come back to me, okay?" she softly said.

Kira smiled and nodded. Then he kissed her cheek. "You be careful too, Lacus."

* * *

Cagalli stared at Athrun as the two headed on their own to the hanger. Athrun glanced at her. "What is it?"

"Nothing." she replied, turning away. "It's just that this time, I can go out too."

"They were finally able to assemble the Strike Rouge that they brought from Morgenroete. Good luck out there." she said.

Athrun stopped and grabbed her hand. "Wait Cagalli. You're going out?"

"What's the matter?" Cagalli asked, annoyed at his tone. "I've received sufficient pilot training for this. And I'm a lot better than the Astray pilots!"

"Yeah...But..."

"The things we can do, the things we want to do and the things we should do, are the same for all of us, right? For you, for Kira, for Lacus and for me."

"Cagalli..."

"Sure, there are times when it's useless to go out to the battlefield and fight. But right now, it's necessary."

Athrun could only stare at her in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that. You take a lot more risks out there than I do." a very determined Cagalli said. "I won't let you die out there."

"Cagalli..."

"I won't let that guy who could be my little brother die either."

Athrun raised an eyebrow. "Little brother? Not your big brother?"

"Of course not! He's the younger one!" Cagalli practically shouted at him.

Athrun smiled. "You're right." he said before embracing her in a hug.

Cagalli could only blush as the two stood there for moment. "I'm lucky to have met you." Athrun added before breaking the hug. "I'll protect you."

The two then kissed.

* * *

The Archangel's Hanger

A Short While Later

Mu sat in the Strike's cockpit, waiting for the order to launch, when there was a knock on the hatch. He turned on a camera to see who it was. It was Murrue. Mu opened the hatch and stepped out, pulling off his helmet as left the Strike.

"I thought I wouldn't make it in time." Murrue said to him.

Mu chuckled. "Wouldn't make it to what?"

He then noticed the floating necklace around her neck. "He was a mobile armor pilot, wasn't he?"

"Yes." Murrue answered, her tone soft and quiet.

"Don't worry. I'll be coming back. I promise." Mu said before pulling her into a kiss.

* * *

By the time the Clyne Faction forces reached the Jachin Due area, the battle was already in full swing. They quickly started deploying all of their mobile suits. The Eternal's mobile suit catapult opened up as the Freedom was loaded onto it. "Kira Yamato. Freedom Gundam taking off." Kira said launching from the Eternal.

The second the Freedom cleared the catapult, the Justice was loaded onto it. "Athrun Zala. Justice launching."

Once they had launched, the METEORs were released and mounted onto the two mobile suits.

At the same time, the Archangel's catapults also opened up as the Strike and the Raven were loaded onto them.

"Mu La Flaga. Strike launching."

"Chris Dante. Raven Gundam launching."

The two machines took off, their phase shift activating. The next two machines were loaded onto the catapults.

"Saul Kessel. Surge takin' off."

"Dearka Elsman. Buster launching."

They cleared the catapults and the final two machines were loaded.

"Liz Dante. Athena launching."

"Nicol Amalfi. Neo Blitz taking off."

The Kusanagi's catapult opened. "Cagalli Yula Athha. Strike Rouge launching."

The Strike Rouge took off, followed by the Astrays. Meanwhile, the hanger doors of the Odin, the Valkyire, and the Einherjar, opened. "John Alaric. Farsight II launching."

The Farsight took off, followed by the rest of the 11th Fleet's mobile suits.

"Alright, listen up boys and girls." John said to his pilots. "This is it. ZAFT and the Alliance are set to wipe each other out. Unless we can stop them. And it falls to us, the men and women of the 11th Fleet, to clear the path for the rest of our forces. That means we can't stop for anything. We must break through the ZAFT lines to reach that weapon. Which means we must fight and even kill our former comrades. Normally, I would ask you all to aim your shots carefully, but we don't have the time for that. For the sake of everyone within the PLANTs and on Earth, nothing can be allowed to stop us. 11th Fleet, move out!"

The warships and mobile suits of the 11th Fleet took off, heading for Jachin Due as the rest of the Clyne Faction prepared to follow after them. "Good luck out there everyone." John added.

* * *

Jachin Due

"So it begins." Zane said, powering up the Retribution. "The end of this wretched, accursed world. But it can't end yet. Not until I finish one thing first."

The hanger doors opened. "Retribution launching." Zane said, taking off.

* * *

Jachin Due Control Room

"Second mirror block is almost in place." an operator reported.

"Input the target data. Lunar surface, the Earth Forces' Ptolemaeus Crater Base." Patrick ordered.

Officers rushed to input the targeting data. "Where is the location of the Earth Forces' reinforcements?" he asked.

"At Green Alpha 5, Mark 3."

Patrick smirked. _'Perfect. We win, Naturals.'_

"Sir! Earth Forces are breaking through Area Seven!"

"We're almost ready. Tell our forces to hold on for a bit longer." Patrick said to the man.

"Then shall I go as well?" Rau asked.

"Yes."

Rau nodded and started to walk away when Patrick stopped him. "Le Creuset. I won't forgive any more of your blunders. The least you could do for failing to destroy the Eternal, is stop them from attacking the PLANTs with it."

"Even if that means killing Athrun?" Rau asked, not actually caring for his answer.

Patrick scowled, barely containing his rage. "Of course!

Rau saluted. "Understood sir." he said before continuing to hanger.

* * *

The Archangel

"Captain! There's an unknown mobile suit approaching at Blue 12, Mark 4. Distance 600 and closing.

Chris knew who it was. "I'll deal with him. You guys continue on ahead." he said, heading for the approaching enemy.

"But..." Murrue started.

"Don't worry about me." Chris replied cutting her off. "Like John said, we can't stop for anything. I'll hold him off by myself."

"Very well then. But be careful."

The Raven continued on, heading to intercept the approaching mobile suit. When he could see the mobile suit with his own eyes, it only confirmed what he already knew. It was the Retribution.

"It's time to end this once and for all." Zane said as the two approached each other. "And what better place than where all of humanity will end."

"It doesn't have to be this way Zane." Chris said. "When the Bloody Valentine happened, I became like you, angry and hateful at the world for what happened. Blue Cosmos for doing such a thing. The Earth Alliance for letting Blue Cosmos to do such a thing. ZAFT for not being able to protect our home. Even myself for not being there and dying with them. But I accepted those feelings and moved on."

Zane fired on him, but Chris dodged the shots. "And that is why you and I are different. You have forgotten them. All of them. Jenn. Sara. Kai. Micheal. Johnny. Gabriel. My parents. Your parents. All of them died that day." he replied. "I haven't forgotten them!"

"Nor have I!" Chris shot back, firing his railgun. "Everyday I remember them! I remember their faces! I remember their voices! I remember their smiles! I remember all the good times we had! I will never forget them! I'm just not fixating on their deaths! Nor am I trying to avenge their deaths by destroying everything!"

Zane sidestepped the shots, firing his right Punishment cannon at him. "You think I'm doing this for them?" he asked as Chris evaded the shot. "I'm doing this because this is what humanity deserves! After the Bloody Valentine, when Rau Le Creuset found me, I was broken. Pathetic. But he showed me the truth of humanity! We mistrust each other. We're intolerant of each other. We hate each other. And we kill each other! That's all we know how to do! That's all we ever do! Look at them! ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are about to wipe each other out for reason beyond their own hatred!"

The two continued to exchange fire, but neither seemed to be able to be able to best the other. The Retribution had the superior firepower, but the Raven was faster and more maneuverable, allowing it to evade the fire of the Retribution. "Naturals were envious of Coordinators. Coordinators looked down on Naturals. That's how it started. Then the Naturals grew to fear and hate the Coordinators for their enhanced abilities. While the Coordinators began to believe that because of their enhanced genes, they were the next, superior breed of human and grew to despise the 'inferior' Naturals whom they believed were holding them back." Zane said as they battled. "Then men like Patrick Zala and Muruta Azrael, men that couldn't tolerate the existence of the other race, emerged and the Coordinators and Naturals willingly lined up behind those men. Why? Because they appealed to the true hearts and desires of people!"

"You're wrong!" Chris shouted, dodging Zane's firing. He transformed the Raven to it's mobile armor mode and charging at the Retribution. "Coordinators. Naturals. We're all people. Flawed, but decent people. All of us have the same dream. To live a decent life. The petty hatred between Coordinators and Naturals must end. It brings nothing but suffering to everyone." he said, igniting the Raven's beam weapons. "Those were your own words! And you were right! That's all people want! To live a decent life in safety and security! But men like Azrael and Zala play on people's fears and problems! Blaming the other and getting their people to fear and hate them!"

A seed shattered in Chris's mind as the Retribution's bayonets activated. Zane thrust the beams forward, intending to impale the Raven with them. But Chris was faster. He turned the Raven on it's right side and deactivated his left beam saber. The Raven flew dangerously close to the Raven, it's single beam blade cutting through the Retribution's left multi-phase cannon. Zane quickly discarded the cannon just before it exploded. The Retribution then spun around and fired it's remaining cannons at the back of the Raven, but Chris managed to dodged the shots. "Looks like the Raven is at least as strong as one of your cannons." Chris said, turning back towards the Retribution.

Zane growled. "You got lucky. But no more! I'll crush you with this mobile suit! Even if it's the last thing I do!!" he yelled as his own seed shattered.

The Retribution's cannons let loose a furious barrage. Chris dodged most of the shots. But one found it's mark, hitting the tip of Raven's left wing. The Raven shook violently as it's wing was hit. Chris quickly transformed it back into it's mobile suit mode and fired it's railgun. One of the shots hit it's target. The Retribution's remaining Punishment multi-phase cannon. The cannon exploded. "Gah! I'm not beaten that easily." Zane said, drawing his beam sabers.

Chris drew his own sabers and the charged forward, their blades clashing. The Raven was strong, but the Retribution's power was far greater. The Retribution overpowered the midnight blue machine, pushing it back before bringing down his sabers. Chris sidestepped to the left. But didn't quite make it. The Retribution's sabers sliced through the barrels of the Raven's railgun and right wing. Chris took that moment to thrust his left saber at the Retribution, but one of it's sub arms rose up and blocked the saber with it's own. Zane laughed as he kicked the Raven back. "Your luck has run out. You don't stand a chance against the Retribution in that piece of junk."

The Raven flew back from the kick but it quickly righted itself. "It doesn't matter." Chris said. "I don't care how superior your machine is to the Raven! I will not lose! I will not let your insane dream happen!! Even if I die here, I won't let you win!!!"

Suddenly, something happened...Something unexpected...

* * *

The Strike fired it's rifle, destroying a Strike Dagger. He fired at another when he felt it. It was like the feeling he felt whenever Rau was near. But it was noticeably different from that feeling. He turned to the source of the feeling. "What is that?"

* * *

Chris found his awareness of the world around him expanding to levels he had never experienced before. It was indescribable. Zane fired his beam cannons at the Raven. But to Chris, he instinctively knew where the shots were going to hit, allowing him to avoid the shots and before Zane could react, sliced the tips of the cannons off. "Impossible..." a stunned Zane whispered.

"I told you, I won't let you win." Chris replied. "That's four cannons down. It looks like the power of your cannons aren't as great as the Raven's."

The Retribution's remaining sub arm unfolded. "Fine then." Zane said with all four of the Retribution's sabers casting a crimson glow on the mobile suit. "We'll settle this with swords. Something that I have a distinct advantage in."

"We'll see." Chris replied.

Both pilot roared, charging forward.

* * *

Jachin Due

"Mirror block in place. N-Jammer Canceller activated. Connecting to nuclear cartridge. All systems connected. All clear to fire." an operator reported.

"Fire!" Patrick ordered, unleashing GENESIS upon the Earth Forces again.

* * *

Alright. It's nearly done. Two more chapters and it's all over. Obviously, the Chris/Zane will end in an upcoming chapter. Though I've already written the entire fight and it's ending and personally, I love the ending I've got for it, but that all I'm saying about that.

As always, review!!


	36. Phase Thirty Five: The Final Light

Yo everybody! I have to say, I didn't think I get this chapter up so soon. I was completely stunned that it's done today. But I'm not complaining and doubt many of you are either. So on with the show!

**Phase Thirty-Five: The Final Light**

GENESIS fired once more. It's massive beam streaking past the forces fighting at Jachin Due. Heading for the Alliance's Ptolemaeus Crater Base. But in it's path was the reinforcements for the Earth Alliance fleet currently fighting at Jachin Due. Just like before, there was no defense against such a weapon. Much of the fleet was annihilated in a matter of seconds. While the beam continued on it's path. Reaching the Ptolemaeus Crater Base. Even at that distance, the beam was just as destructive. Destroying the entire base in an explosion to rival any nuclear blast.

But even then, it didn't stop the intense, brutal fighting between the ZAFT forces and the Alliance forces. The Earth pilots knew that GENESIS could be fired at the Earth, wiping out everything and everyone on the planet. Just as the ZAFT pilots knew that the Alliance still had nuclear weapons that could be used against the PLANTs, destroying them and killing millions. While some pilots still fought to wipe the other race out, most fought on for one simple reason. To ensure the survival of their homes and loved ones.

* * *

The Dominion

"Ma'am! Message from the reinforcement fleet." Flay reported as the message came in. "Half of the fleet has been wiped out!"

Natarle could only grit her teeth in frustration. With Ptolemaeus gone and half of their reinforcements gone, things were not looking good for them. Their only hope now was to punch a hole in the ZAFT lines for the Peacemaker Force to destroy GENESIS.

Suddenly, Azrael bolted out of his seat, heading for Flay's station. He tore off her headset and opened a channel to the Doolittle. "Captain Sutherland! Ready the Peacemaker Force!" he frantically ordered. "Our target is the PLANTs!"

Natarle was stunned. The PLANTs? They needed to destroy GENESIS before it could be fired at Earth. "Director Azreal-"

"We'll destroy every last one of those goddamn hourglasses!!" Azrael shouted. "Recall the Calamity, the Forbidden, the Massacre, and the Raider so they can clear a path!

Sutherland nodded. "Roger."

"But Director Azrael, that won't eliminate the threat to Earth." Naratle argued. "Our focus must be to destroy that weapon!"

"Give me a break." he said in an annoyed tone as he reached into his coat. "Why must you always be such a bitch?!"

He drew a pistol from his coat and pointed it at Natarle. Natarle's eyes widened in surprise while Flay stared at the gun less than a foot from her face in terror.

* * *

Clotho fired his beam cannon at CGUE, piercing it's cockpit. "This is too easy." he commented.

"Yeah. Where the hell are those strong opponents?" Kevin asked, mowing down a trio of GINNs.

At that moment, messages appeared on their consoles.

_Urgent._

_Priority One._

_Return to the Dominion to escort Peacemaker Force immediately._

"Aw...More babysitting." Clotho whined. "That's barely any fun."

"Shut up dumbass." Orga said, heading, alongside the Forbidden, for the Dominion. "You want to get in trouble?"

Clotho growled, but followed them. Kevin, on the other hand, was tired of doing what Azrael wanted. He wanted to find those two and finally destroy them. Azrael would punish him for that later. But he didn't care. He wanted to fight those two machines that had constantly escaped destruction.

So, instead of following his teammates, he went in the opposite direction. Searching for someone worth fighting.

* * *

The Dominion

"What do you plan on doing with that thing?" Natarle defiantly asked. "Are you trying to take over this ship?"

"Take over? You really don't get it, do you? I've been in charge here from the beginning!" Azrael replied. "Your job is to follow my orders! Yet all you do is question every single order I give!"

"Message from the Doolittle." a bridge officer said. "Peacemaker Force is ready for take off."

"Then have them launch! What about the Raider, the Calamity, the Massacre and the Forbidden?" Azrael demanded.

"The Raider, Calamity and Forbidden are returning."

"What about the Massacre?!"

"It appears to be ignoring orders."

"What?! Gah! Dammit!" Azrael cursed for moment before regaining a fracture of the composure he had a moment before. "It doesn't matter! Once the PLANTs are gone, this war will be over!" he ranted. "All Coordinators are a threat to Earth! So long as even one draws breath, Earth will be in danger! And our purpose here is to get rid of them all!"

"But that's-" Natarle started to say.

"Contain casualties to our own forces to a minimum while incurring maximum damage to the enemy." Azrael said, cutting her off. "That's how a war is suppose to be fought."

* * *

The Archangel

"Captain! The Dominion and several other ships are breaking off and heading for the PLANTs!" Sai said.

"They must have the nukes... Tell the Eternal and the Kusanagi that we'll deal with the Dominion." Murrue ordered. "Move us to intercept the Dominion and the other ships!"

The Archangel quickly caught up with her sister ship and the other ships. "Fire anti-beam depth charges! Load Sledgehammers!" Samuel ordered. "Aim Valiants and Gottfrieds! Target the Agamemnon-class!"

* * *

The Dominion

"Archangel approaching. They're targeting the Doolittle!" an operator reported.

"What are you waiting for?!" Azrael demanded. "Move us out front! We can't let them sink the Doolittle!!"

Natarle just stood there defiantly. That didn't please Azrael. "If you won't do it, I'll shoot you!!"

Natarle had no real choice. If she refused,he would shoot her and no doubt get everyone else on board killed. She sat back down. She'd fight to protect the ship and crew on board at least. "Maximum thrust! Turn bow twenty!" she ordered. "Fire anti-beam depth charges! Aim Gottfrieds!"

"FIRE!!!" both Murrue and Natarle yelled.

* * *

"Alright. Everyone, spread out." Yzak ordered as his team moved to intercept the nukes. "We can't let a single warhead get through!"

His team and the other teams with him spread out. Casting a wide net that would hopefully catch the nukes. But at the head of the Peacemaker, was the Raider, the Calamity, and the Forbidden.

"Hmm...More pests." Shani said as the ZAFT machines approached.

"Hey! Where the hell did Kevin go?!" Orga asked, looking around for their fourth teammate.

"Who cares. Just means more for us." Clotho replied, firing on the ZAFT mobile suits with his railguns, gunning down three.

Yzak and his team surged forward, trying to overwhelm the three Earth machines. But the GINNs and GuAIZs just weren't a match for the power of those three machines. Many ZAFT pilots were cut down by the trio before they could reach them and the Peacemaker Force.

Yzak scowled. Most of his team was just a bunch of kids. Seeing them getting killed like that, infuriated him. "Come on, you bastards!" Yzak shouted, firing on the Raider. "Why don't you try fighting me?!"

The Raider transformed and nimbly dodged his shots and fired back with his railgun and machineguns. "You're gonna have to try harder than that!"

Yzak pulled up his shield, blocking the railgun rounds as the bullets impacted the Duel's armor. But Clotho wasn't the only one that wanted a piece of Yzak and the Duel.

The Forbidden lunged at the Duel with it's scythe raised. Suddenly, a pair of arrestors shot out at the green mobile suit. But Shani saw them in the corner of his eye. The Forbidden spun and sliced through the arrestors' cables. "I got your back Yzak!" Saya called out, firing at the Forbidden with her beam rifle.

However, her attack was useless as Shani pulled down his beam deflection shields, sparing his mobile suit from any damage. "Another weak one?" Shani said. "Then die like the rest!"

The Forbidden's cannon fired. Saya dodged the first beam with ease. She then narrowly avoided the second beam. But she ended up flying into the the third. The beam blew off her shield and tore off the GuAIZ's left arm at the elbow. Saya swore as she fired back. But her shots either missed entirely or were harmlessly deflected.

But she did distract the Forbidden, allowing Yzak move in behind the machine, a beam saber drawn. Yzak roared as he moved in to attack. But it wasn't meant to be.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Orga, firing at the Duel, forcing Yzak to pull back.

"Dammit." he swore. "Saya! Get out of here. You're no match for these guys in a GuAIZ."

"Don't worry about me sir. I can handle myself." she replied, still desperately trying to get around the Forbidden's shields.

But she was so caught up in trying to get past those shields, that she didn't notice the Raider approaching her from behind until the machine was practically right on top of her. She spun around. But it was already too late.

"Get out of the way pest!!" Clotho roared, firing his hammer at the GuAIZ.

The heavy metal ball slammed into Saya's machine, sending her flying back. Saya fought to try to stop her machine. But it was too late. Orga took aim at her with his energy bazooka and fired. The shot hit it's mark, piecing the GuAIZ's upper torso and going through the back of it's head. A second later, the GuAIZ exploded.

"Saya!!" Yzak shouted in horror.

A smug grin formed on Orga's face. "Bullseye."

This only served to enrage Yzak further. "You bastards!!" he roared, firing his railgun at the Calamity.

The Calamity easily avoided the shots and fired back with his bazooka. Yzak blocked the shot with his shield, but the force of the impact knocked the shield out of the Duel's hand. Yzak silently cursed to himself. There was no way he could beat these three by himself.

"Guess this one isn't that tough." Shani said, his pack moving into position to fire his cannon.

Suddenly, a barrage of beams streaked towards the Forbidden. Shani barely manged to move his shields in time. "Gah! Who the hell took a shot at me?!" Shani growled as everyone turned to the source of the shots.

The Surge, the Neo Blitz and the Buster were approaching. "Looks like you could use some help Yzak." Dearka said as the three of them fired on the Calamity, the Forbidden, and Raider, forcing them to back way from the Duel.

Yzak grunted. "What you guys doing here? I thought you weren't fighting for ZAFT anymore."

"That doesn't mean that we can't help a friend." replied Nicol.

"Yeah. And that's kinda rude to say that to the people helping you out." Saul added.

"Bastards! Eat this!" Orga shouted, firing at the four of them.

The Surge, the Duel and the Buster dodged his shots while Nicol used his Trikeros II shield to deflect the beams aimed at him.

"We can talk later." Dearka said, returning fire with his beam cannon and gun launcher. "Now's the time to kick some ass."

But at that moment, the mobile armors fired their lethal payload. And the four of them weren't in any position to stop them with the Forbidden, the Calamity, and the Raider engaging them.

The nukes streaked towards the PLANTs unopposed, when suddenly the Freedom, the Justice and the Strike Rouge appeared.

"Dammit! Don't you guys care about all the lives you're trying to wipe out!" Kira shouted as a seed shattered in his mind.

The Freedom and it's METEOR fired every weapon they had. The beams and missile hit their targets, destroying a huge chuck of missiles in a couple of seconds.

Athrun took aim at the remaining missiles as his own seed shattered. Athrun let loose his own overwhelming barrage of fire, destroying the rest of the nuclear warheads. But it wasn't over yet. There was still a handful of mobile armors that yet to release their payload until that moment.

Athrun and Kira both moved to intercept the few remaining missiles when a wave of curving beams streaked towards them, forcing them to stop and take evasive maneuvers. "You're not stopping the lights this time!" Shani roared as continued to fire at them.

Cagalli, seeing all the others too distracted with their own battles to safely intercept the nukes, headed for the warheads. She fired her rifle. The first three shots missed their mark, but her fourth hit the lead missile. It exploded, taking all of the other missiles with it.

* * *

The 11th Fleet tore through the ZAFT defense lines, fighting like men possessed. Lucius gunned down a CGUE and two GINNs with precision of a surgeon. A ZAFT GuAIZ fired it's arrestors at Ajay's GuAIZ. But before they could reach him, he ignited his beam claws and sliced the cables in an instant. Before the GuAIZ pilot could react, Ajay fired his own arrestors at him. The arrestors grabbed onto the GuAIZ and Ajay charged at him, slashing through the GuAIZ. A Nazca-class and Laurasia-class moved to block the warships of the 11th Fleet, but Basque and his heavy weapons team attacked the ships, targeting their engines and weapons. "You're not stopping us!" yelled Basque as he fired open the Nazca-class's main cannons.

His heavy particle cannon made quick work of the Nazca-class's cannons.

But the 11th Fleet was incurring their own losses. A light blue GuAIZ gunned down another GuAIZ, only to be shot in the back by a pair of GINNs. A trio of GuAIZ overwhelmed white and red GuAIZ, bringing it down with a large barrage of beams.

John, atop the edge of the Odin's catapult, was taking out taking out ZAFT mobile suits with his sniper rifle. Every shot he took, removed at least one ZAFT machine from the battle.

But even then, their advance was slowing. More ZAFT mobile suits and warships were moving to intercept them. They were starting to get overwhelmed by the numbers.

A GuAIZ and three GINNs rose up in front of the Odin, firing at the Farsight. John swore as he jump back to avoid their fire. He quickly pulled up his rifle and pistol. But before he could fire, a barrage of beams tore through them.

"Nothing but worms." Kevin grumbled as he looked around the area. "Where are those two? Where is the white one and the red one?"

"Dammit. Not one of those guys." John said, taking aim the Massacre. "We can't deal with these guys now."

He fired. And the shot would have hit if two GINNs and a GuAIZ hadn't tried attacking the Massacre. "Worms!" Kevin roared as he dodged all of the shots. "Take a shot at me and I'll tear out your throats!!"

The Massacre fired back, destroying the ZAFT machines with ease. However, during that, Kevin noticed the Farsight atop the Odin. "YOU!!!" he howled. "Where are they, coward?!"

John's response was simple. He jumped out the Odin and took off, heading for the Massacre. Firing at the crimson machine as he flew. The Massacre sidestepped his shots and fired back with missiles and Gatling guns. John pulled to the right, firing at the missiles as he moved to dodge the beams. "Diana, take command and keep on going. I'll handle this punk and catch up with you." ordered John.

Kevin laughed. "You think that a coward like you, can defeat me?! Let me show you just how wrong you are!!"

The Massacre suddenly charged forward at the Farsight as John fired on him. Though the Massacre dove and sidestepped John's fire, it didn't return fire with it's own weapons or draw a beam saber, catching John off guard. The Massacre slammed into the Farsight, tossing it back. "DIE!!!" Kevin roared, raising the Massacre's Gatling guns and opening it's chest plate.

At that range, there was no dodging. John was dead...

Suddenly, beams tore through the small area between them, forcing Kevin to back away on reflex. Kevin turned to the source of the beams, only to come face to face with a pair of purple arrestors. Kevin pulled his left Gatling gun in front of him like a shield. One arrestor grabbed one of the gun's barrels while the other grabbed the base of the weapon. "Now sir!" Diana shouted as she held the Massacre in place.

John discarded his rifle and drew one of his sabers. He lunged at the Massacre as Kevin fought with Diana to break free of her grasp. But as John brought his saber down, Kevin detached the Gatling gun and lept back, avoiding the beam blade entirely.

"I thought I told you to take command and keep going." John said.

"Sorry sir. But I felt that you could use the assistance." Diana replied. "Was I mistaken?"

John sighed. "No. You're right of course. Let's deal with this guy quickly and head back to the fleet."

* * *

"I'll give you credit. You are strong but no match for me." Chris said.

Their duel had intensified. But Zane was struggling to keep up. The Retribution had already lost it's left foot while the Raven had been untouched since they had started their saber duel.

"Dammit! RAAAGH!!!" Zane roared as swung his sabers at the Raven. Again, it dodged his attack. "Impossible! How can you keep avoiding every move I make!"

"Well, I could ask you've become so slow and predictable." Chris replied. "I can see your movements quite easily. You might as well surrender. You can't beat me now."

"Impossible...You've become like them..." Zane paused for a moment, gritting his teeth in frustration. "No matter! I'll defeat you regardless of that!"

Zane lunged at the Raven, swing his sabers wildly. But Chris dodged, blocked or countered every swing he took. "DAMN YOU!!!" he screamed, his attacks becoming more wild and desperate. "I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU EVER AGAIN!!!"

Every time the two had battled, the best Zane could ever achieve was a stalemate. But every draw, every defeat, every battle, had pushed him forward. Driven him to become stronger. To become stronger for this battle. He would not allow himself to lose here!

Suddenly, something snapped within Zane. Both pilots paused. Chris stopped when he felt something emerge from the Retribution. A pulse that caused a shutter crawl up spine. Zane, on the other hand, felt the entire world...no the entire universe becoming clearer before him. It was like he had, up until this point, seen everything through a fog, but now the fog had lifted from his eyes.

Not taking a chance, Chris rushed at the Retribution, intending to end the duel right there and now. He swung his sabers down on the Retribution. Only to have the blades perfectly blocked but the Retribution's blades.

Zane started laughing. "I saw it! I saw that attack!" he said, a grin on his face. "Everything has become so much clearer now! Ha ha ha ha ha! It's funny! Creuset always looked down me because I lacked what both you and he have! I was always second to _her_! Because I didn't have what she had! Her! Creuset's failure! And yet I was always second to her! Even after she rejected him and his quest! But not any more! That doesn't matter anymore! Nor does your new awareness! Because now, we are equal!!"

"Indeed we are." was Chris's only response. "Indeed we are."

* * *

The Doolittle

"Have all units target those two mobile suits!" Sutherland ordered. "How many nukes do we have left?!"

"Eight mobile armors have yet to be deployed."

"Then launch them!"

"Sir!" the radar operator shouted. "Incoming mobile suit!"

"Shoot it down!!" screamed Sutherland.

But it was already too late.

"For Junius Seven!" Liz roared, firing at the Doolittle.

The Athena's beams hit the Doolittle's bridge tower, destroying the bridge and creating a chain reaction that consumed the entire ship, obliterating it.

"One down. Three more to go." Liz said, heading for the next Agamemnon-class.

* * *

"_Possibly, humans can exist without actually having to fight. But, many of us have chosen to fight. For what reason?"_

* * *

Raider, in it's mobile armor mode, strafed the Justice, hitting it with railgun rounds and bullets. Knocking Athrun back a bit, but did little ease. Athrun fired off a number of missiles as the Raider flew past. Clotho quickly spun around, transforming the Raider back, and firing several shots at the missiles, destroying them. But Athrun didn't let up, swinging the METEOR's large beam sabers at the Raider.

"What's the deal with you two anyway? Why are you fighting so desperately?" Clotho asked, a desperate tone in his voice, as he evaded more of Athrun's swings.

"I want to ask you the same thing. What do you guys think you're fighting for?" Athrun replied.

"Don't ask me, I don't really know." Clotho paused. "...I hate losing. That's my only reason!"

"What?"

"Not that I would ever lose!" Clotho yelled as he spun around and fired at the Justice.

"Die!" Shani roared, firing his plasma cannon at the Surge.

Saul nimbly dodged and sidestepped the curving beams, firing his beam rifle as he did. "It's gonna take more than wild shots to get me."

Saul fired his claw at the Forbidden. To his surprise, Shani pulled up his pack and grabbed the claw's cable with one hand. "Aw shit..." Saul said just before Shani pulled on the cable.

The Surge flew forward, towards the Forbidden, which had lowered it's scythe. It's spiked tip ready to impale the Surge. Saul quickly drew one of his swords and sliced through the cable. The Surge stopped. "Okay. Now I'm mad." Saul said, drawing his other sword.

Elsewhere, Cagalli and a pair of Astray pilots were battling a group of Strike Daggers. Cagalli fired at a pair of Daggers, shooting one down and severing the leg of the other. "Ha! You guys aren't so tough!" Cagalli gloated.

"Lady Cagalli! Behind you!" one of the pilots shouted.

Cagalli spun around. A Dagger, with a beam saber, lunged at her. Suddenly, one of the Astray pilots dove in between the Strike Rouge and the Dagger. Firing his rifle as the Dagger's saber cut through the Astray. Both exploded.

"Lady Cagalli!" the other Astray pilot said, approaching her. "Are you-"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, a Strike Dagger shot him from behind. "Damn you bastards!" Cagalli screamed, a seed exploding in her mind.

She quickly fired, destroying that Dagger, before taking down three more in rapid succession.

"I've taken care of the ships carrying the nukes." Liz's voice said, suddenly coming over the comm. "We don't have to worry about anymore nukes being fired."

"You heard her, Athrun." Nicol said, evading the Calamity's shots. "Go on and stop GENESIS. The four of us will deal with these guys."

Athrun nodded. "Alright. We'll stop GENESIS. But you guys better not get yourselves killed." he said as Kira and Cagalli took off for GENESIS.

"Just go already!" Yzak shouted. "We'll take these punks down!"

* * *

"_To protect something? Protect what? Ourselves? The future? If we kill people to protect ourselves and this future then what sort of future is it and what will we have become?"_

* * *

"Le Creuset!!" Mu roared as he fired on his long time rival and enemy.

Rau smirked as he dodged the Strike's fire ease and fired back. Rau had hoped that he would have a chance to see Mu again before it all ended.

Mu dodged his beams with the same ease. "Is this what you were hoping for, you bastard?!"

"You shouldn't blame me!" Rau yelled, releasing his DRAGOONs. "This is mankind's dream, mankind's desire, mankind's destiny!" he ranted as Mu struggled to dodged the numerous beams coming from multiple directions. "To be the strongest, to go the farthest, to climb the highest!"

A beam destroyed Mu's rifle, but otherwise, Mu had managed to evade his shots. "You're pathetic!" Mu shot back, drawing a beam saber and lunging at Rau.

Rau activated his shield mounted beam saber, blocking his attack. "To compete, to envy, to hate each other, and to devour one another!"

"I won't let your twisted logic make things worse!" Mu said, backing off for another attack.

"But you're too late, Mu. You see... I am the product of all of this! That's how I know!" Rau said, firing from his DRAGOONs again. "I know that humanity will be swallowed by the darkness it's created!"

This time, the beams blew off the Strike's right arm and left leg, sending the mobile flying like a rag doll.

* * *

"There is no future for those who have died. And what of those who did the killing? Is happiness to be found in a future that is grasped with blood stained hands?" Lacus said, her pupils dilated. "Is that the truth?"

* * *

Two pink beam sabers met and clashed with four crimson beam sabers. Both the Raven and the Retribution looked like they had been through hell. There were dents and gashes on both mobiles suits. But still they fought on. Both machines groaned as they fought to overpower the other. Normal pilots would have retreated from the battle by now. But neither of these pilots were willing to back down. Even had their mobile suits collapsed under the strain of their battle, they would have kept on fighting.

"I've got you now!" Zane said, pulling the sabers in the Retribution's sub arms back.

His plan was clear and obvious. With the Raven's sabers blocking the Retribution's other two sabers, those two would cut through the Raven's chest. The sub arms swung down. "That's not going to work!" Chris shouted.

The Raven's mobile armor legs folded out, their mini-beam sabers igniting as the sub arms dropped. The Raven's blades sliced through the forearms of the sub arms. The energy blades of the two sabers instantly died, sparing the Raven any damage.

"See. Had you done that during our encounter yesterday, that probably would have worked." Chris said as he broke away from the Retribution. "But now...Now that won't work on me!"

Zane scowled. "Don't think you've beaten me. These two sabers will be more than enough for you."

"That a look at your machine. It's got what, another two attacks left in before it completely falls apart?" Chris replied.

"Than take a look at your own machine." Zane shot back. "I doubt you have anything beyond two attacks left. In fact, I doubt you have all that much power left your battery. Where as I am in no danger of running out of power."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, this battle is about to end. This will be our final attacks."

"Yes it is. And I've already seen the outcome. The Raven in pieces!" Zane roared, charging at the Raven.

"I don't think so. I happen to see something very different!" Chris shouted, charging the Retribution.

The two machines struck. The Raven's left saber stabbed into the joint between the Retribution's right shoulder and body as the Retribution's right saber cut into the Raven's left shoulder, destroying it. Meanwhile, the Raven's right saber sliced through the Retribution's left forearm, severing it.

Zane's eyes widened surprise as the Retribution's limbs flew off. Before he could react, the Raven kicked the Retribution, slamming it into a large chuck of debris. Zane attempted to pulled the Retribution off the debris, but the crash had caused shrapnel to become lodged in the Retribution's main thrusters, damaging them and immobilizing the machine. He looked up. The Raven was hovering over him. "Well? What are you waiting for? End it."

Chris shook his head. "No."

"What?! Are you insane?!" Zane shouted. "If you don't kill me now, I'll keep on coming after you! And I won't stop until one of us has been destroyed! You know that!!"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." he replied. "You and I were friends once. And I hope that you and I can be friends again one day. Perhaps this act of mercy will show you that there is still some good in humanity."

And with that, the Raven took off, leaving the stranded Retribution. "Coward!! Come back! Come back and finish this!" screamed Zane. "If you don't, I'll hunt you down! I swear it!! I'll destroy you!!"

* * *

The Archangel

The battle between the Archangel and the Dominion had reached a standstill. Both ships were in rough shape. Their hulls were pitted with holes and gouges from their weapons. Both ships had lost one of their Gottfrieds. The Archangel had lost it's Valiants while the Dominion had lost it's right radar array.

"We've sealed off weapons bank eight." Murdoch reported.

"The Strike is returning. It's been damaged." Miri said.

Murrue gasped. "Open a channel."

Mu appeared on the main screen. "Damn that new machine of Creuset's." Mu cursed. "I'll get him next time."

"You can report on that later." Murrue said, pulling up her phone. "Ground crew, set up the emergency landing net! Medical staff on standby!"

One of the Archangel's catapults opened for the approaching Strike.

* * *

The Dominion

Azrael watched as the Archangel's catapult opened for that damaged mobile suit. "Now's our chance! Fire the Loengrin!" he shouted. "Sink that ship!"

Natarle could only grit her teeth. There was nothing she could do to stop him.

But Flay, on the other hand, could do something to warn them. "Archangel! Get out of there!" Flay yelled over the comm. "Archangel-"

Azrael grabbed her and pulled her from her seat. "How dare you! Bitch!!" he screamed, slapping Flay and sending her flying in the low gravity. "What the hell is wrong with you?!!"

He drew his pistol and pointed it at her. Suddenly, Natarle tackled Azrael, reaching for his gun. The gun fired several times, hitting the deck.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Natarle shouted at the man.

"I know what I'm doing! To you!!" Azrael yelled back, grabbing her collar as the two wrestled for the gun.

"All hands, abandon ship!" Natarle yelled to the rest of the crew.

Most of the bridge crew didn't need to be told twice and fled the bridge for the escape boats. But Flay didn't. Natarle pushed her and Azrael to the front of the bridge. "Go!" she shouted to Flay. "Get to the Archangel!"

Flay knew she had no other choice. But still, she didn't want to leave Natarle with the _man_. In the end, she reluctantly followed the rest of the bridge crew out of the bridge.

"Damn you, bitch!" Azrael screamed as they fled.

"If you are the commander... If you are in the position to give orders-"

_BANG!!!_

Natarle gasped. The gun had gone off. A bullet pierced her side. Azrael pushed her off, slamming her into a console. Azrael headed for the door, pausing a moment to glare at her. "I hope you realize what's going to happen to you for treating me like this!"

Natarle managed to pull herself to her chair and push a button, sealing the bridge just before Azrael reached the door. "You're a monster who deserves to die...right here with me..."

A bullet tore through her right shoulder, sending her to the ground. "Damn you! Open that door!"

Natarle simply smirked.

_BANG!!!_

Another bullet. This time, it hit her left shin. Azrael glanced over his shoulder. The Archangel was still the position to finish them off. "Dammit! I can't die here!" he said, heading for the weapon control console.

He had one last option. One last way to win this. "I can still win this." he chuckled, typing away at the console. "That's right. I was always win."

Natarle tried to get up to stop him, but she was too late. One of the Dominion's Lohengrins fired. The beam streaking towards the Archangel.

"Evade!" Murrue shouted as the beam grew closer and closer.

"It's too late!" Arnold yelled back, frantically trying to move the Archangel in time.

Suddenly, the Strike appeared in front of the bridge, it's shield out. The beam hit the Strike's shield. But it couldn't hold the beam for long. It's body began to fall apart under the strain. If Mu didn't move soon, the Strike would be destroyed. But if he did, the Archangel would be destroyed.

"Ha! I didn't I tell you...I'm the one who makes the impossible...possible..." Mu yelled.

The Strike exploded, sparing the Archangel any damage. Everyone was stunned. Everyone was silent. Save for Murrue, who screamed out Mu's name as her tears floated from her eyes.

"Impossible..." Azrael whispered.

Natarle let out a quiet, strained laugh. "Looks like you lose..."

Azrael was on her in an instant. "How dare you mock me?!"

He slammed her into her chair. "I won't die here! I refuse to!" he ranted, grabbing the ship's helm.

Aboard the Archangel, Murrue brushed the tears from her eyes, glaring at the Dominion. "Aim Lohengrin!" she ordered.

One of the Archangel's Lohengrins unfolded and began charging.

"Murrue Ramius..." Natarle shouted.

"FIRE!!!" both she and Murrue screamed.

The Archangel's Lohengrin fired. The beam streaked out towards the Dominion as Azrael frantically tried to pull the ship out of the line of fire. But he just wasn't fast enough. The edge of the beam caught the bridge. Tearing the bridge to pieces. The rest of the Dominion lifelessly floated in space, effectively dead in the water.

* * *

One more chapter to go! Well, one more chapter and the epilouge. I might actually get the next chapter done for tomorrow night. But if not, it will be before Friday. So it's finally coming to an end!

Please review!!


	37. Final Phase: Towards an Endless Tomorrow

It's done... I don't believe it... I honestly don't believe it. I'm done. All I can say about this chapter is that I've been working on and off on this chapter since I was at JOSH-A. And I have to say that this is probably one of my best chapters. But then, that probably due to my bias. Though it has been a bit of an emotional ride for, writting certain parts of this.

While I will have a epilogue for this story, it's pretty much the SEED epilogue with some extra and extended scenes. My SEED story is done. And it's the last chance to vote on the naming of Flay's baby.

Alexander: 4

Virgil: 3

Nero: 2

Finally, to my fans, both old and new, thank you for your reviews and your support. You're the people that drove me on to finish this. And a special thanks to all the people who have given me their OCs to use.

Now, let the final phase begin.

**Final Phase: Towards an Endless Tomorrow**

The battle around Jachin Due had intensified even more. The Alliance forces had smashed throw most of the outer ZAFT lines and were battling the rear defense forces that were protecting the space fortress itself. But they weren't the only ones. The battered 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet, formerly of ZAFT, had managed to slice through a section of the ZAFT line, opening a path for the Eternal and the Kusanagi to fire on GENESIS. But they had paid for it. The Odin had sustained heavy damage to it's port side. There were several large breaches in it's hull on that side. The Einherjar had lost it's main cannon and had even more breaches in it's hull. Out of the three, the Valkyrie had sustained the least amount of damage. But even then, it was still in bad shape. Added to this, over a third of their mobile suits had been shot down.

"I demand that ZAFT stop firing GENESIS." Lacus said as the Eternal and the Kusanagi reached the 11th Fleet. "We've all experienced the pain and sorrow of nuclear attacks and yet now we are trying to do the same thing to them. If we fire that weapon, will it heal anything? If we kill more people who have done nothing wrong, is that justice? Do you still not realize what these attacks on each other are giving birth to?"

* * *

Kira, Athrun and Cagalli reached towards Jachin Due and GENESIS. Athrun desperately hoped he could still reason with his father. Make him see the truth of what he was doing. Before it was too late. But regardless of the outcome, Kira and others were going to destroy GENESIS.

Suddenly, Kira felt something. Something was wrong. He knew he had to check it out. Kira turned and headed off towards the source of the feeling.

"Kira!" Cagalli called out as he left.

"Athrun. Take care of Cagalli. Something's wrong here." he replied.

* * *

The Archangel

Though they had defeated the Dominion, the Archangel had paid a heavy price for their victory. It's hull had been pierced in a number of places. Most of it's weapons were destroyed or disabled. And there were a number of fires raging within the mighty ship.

"Blocks 125 through 144 closed!" Sai reported.

"Thrust is reduced to fifty percent!" Arnold said, trying to keep the ship steady.

"Thirty-three percent of sensors have been damaged!" Miri added.

But Murrue wasn't in any condition to give orders. She sat in her chair crying.

Samuel rose up from the CIC. "We need to stop the fires now. Before they inflict more damage to the ship. Tell Murdoch to seal off the sections that are on fire and vent the air out." he ordered. "Once the fires are out and the air has been vented back in, they need to get the engines up and running."

"Ah...Yes sir." Sai said, rushing to carry out his order.

* * *

Rau flew past the wreckage of the Dominion. "Oh Azrael...What a disappointment you were." he commented.

Azrael could have at least taken a few of the PLANTs with him. But no matter. After GENESIS was fired at Earth, the surviving Earth bases on the moon would strike back with every last nuke they had.

Rau approached the Archangel. The legged ship had been a thorn in his side for too long. Then he saw it. The wreckage of the Strike. "And so the Hawk of Endymion has fallen. A shame that I wasn't the one to kill you." Rau said before he turned his attention to the Archangel.

He was about to fire his Judicium beam rifle at the ship, when he felt something. A presence he had never felt before. It wasn't Mu. It wasn't Suiren. And it wasn't Rey. So then who was it?

Suddenly, several beams streaked towards the Providence. Rau sidestepped the shots and turned to his attacker. The Freedom.

Kira lunged at Rau, igniting one of the METEOR's beam sabers. Rau flew up to avoid Kira's swing, deploying his DRAGOON as he did.

The DRAGOON pods spread out, firing on the Freedom. Kira pulled a quick series of rolls, twists and dives, evading the beams before firing the METEOR's missiles at the Providence. But the DRAGOONs quickly repositioned themselves and fired. Creating a field of beams in front of the Providence, sparing it from harm. "You're nothing but a pest!" Rau shouted, firing his rifle.

A lone beam hit the METEOR's right cannon, forcing Kira to discard it before it exploded. But before the fireball had faded, Rau lunged at Kira with his beam saber ignited. Kira pulled up the remaining cannon, blocking the blade. Though he lost the cannon, the Freedom was spared any damage.

The DRAGOON pods let loose a barrage on the Freedom. Kira, somehow, barely managed to evade them. But before he could retaliate, Rau fired at him. "You're something that shouldn't have been allowed to exist, boy!" he shouted as Kira evaded his shots.

Kira fired his remaining missiles at the Providence, forcing Rau and his DRAGOONs to stop their attack on him, so they could shoot down the missiles. But they didn't last long. Kira fired the Freedom's railguns and cannons and the remaining cannons on the METEOR at Rau. But he effortlessly dodged them and returned fire with his pods. "If people learned of your existence, they would want to be just as you are. They would want to become like you." he ranted as Kira struggled just to avoid the numerous beams surrounding him.

A beam hit the METEOR's right wing, destroy it's cannon and empty missile launcher. Desperate, Kira drew his beam sabers and started deflecting as many of the beams as he could.

"And that's the reason why your existence cannot be allowed!" Rau shouted as a DRAGOON hit one of the METEOR's engines.

"Even if that's true..." Kira said, dodging the DRAGOON beams. "I'm not defined by my abilities alone!"

He fired at a cluster of DRAGOON pods with his remaining guns. But the pods were too fast. The moved out of the line of fire before the beams could hit them before returning fire.

"Who's going to believe that line?! Will they understand that?!" Rau shouted as they continued to exchange fire. "Of course they won't! Nobody will!"

Rau lunged at Kira's side. Kira pulled out of the path, but his METEOR ended up taking the hit.

And it was at that moment, that both pilots noticed the lifeboat flying nearby. And both could see Flay Allster on board. Kira detached from the damaged METEOR, heading for the shuttle.

Rau laughed as he took aim at the small craft. "Miss Allster. You done quite well. Allow me to give you your reward!"

Kira pushed the Freedom to it's limit. He wasn't about to let a repeat of the shuttle tragedy from so long ago. Rau fired his rifle at the shuttle. Just before the beam could hit, Kira pulled out his shield. The beam hit the shield, sparing the lifeboat from harm. A small smile crossed Kira's face.

But then he saw it. A DRAGOON pod moving into a firing position behind the shuttle. There wasn't time for him to do anything...

The DRAGOON pod fired. But a miracle occurred.

The Raven appeared between the shuttle and pulled up it's shield. The beam stuck the Raven's shield, destroying his shield and what remained of the railgun but sparing the shuttle from certain destruction.

Chris breathed a sigh of relief as low power warning alarm sounded in the cockpit. The Raven was finished for this battle. But he had saved Flay, so it didn't matter. It was up to Kira, Athrun and the others to stop Creuset and GENESIS now.

"Pathetic. Even with a nuclear powered machine, Zane lost to you." Rau said. "I had thought that the Retribution would have given him the power to destroy you once and for all. Even with that new awareness you've achieved."

"He underestimated me. And that's why he lost." Chris shot back as he moved in front of the shuttle. "Just as you are about lose."

Rau started to laugh. "It doesn't matter if you two somehow manage to kill me! I've already won!" he shouted. "Humanity has brought us to this path! With their ignorance! Their greed! Their jealousy! Their hatred! Why, man is worse than animals! They're monsters pretending to be civilized!"

"You're wrong, you masked freak! People aren't like that!" Chris shouted back. "People are flawed, but most aren't like that! Most just wish to live decent life! It's people like you that are evil! Those few that are filled with nothing but hatred! You're the monsters! Not humanity!"

Rau growled. "It's time to do what should have been done at Mendel years ago! You... Both of you are abominations! Brought into this world as the goals of madmen and at the expense of others!"

Rau aimed the Providence's rifle at the Raven and fired. But Kira pulled the Freedom in front of it, blocking the shots with his shield.

But that was what Rau wanted. A pair of pods rose up from behind the two mobile suits and fired at the Freedom. Kira turned but it was too late. There wasn't enough time for him to dodge or block the shots...

Suddenly, the Raven slammed into the Freedom, pushing it out of the path of the beams. The shots tore through the Raven's upper chest and right arm, severing the arm. The Raven's phase shift flickered briefly before it shut off. Electricity surged in and around the hole in Raven's chest and the stump of it's right arm. The Raven was finished. They all knew it.

"And so ends one abomination." Rau triumphantly said.

Kira was stunned at his friend's sacrifice. "Why..."

"I told you before. I'm watching your back so you and the others live long enough to change the world for the better. That's my reason for fighting Kira." Chris replied as danger lights and alarms were going off in the Raven's cockpit. "I want you to do something for me Kira. Stop this bastard and tell Flay I love her and I'm sorry."

Chris closed the comm and his eyes. It was over. He survived numerous battles only to fall here, at the final battle. But in the end, he had no regrets. Had he known what laid ahead of him when he first entered the Raven's cockpit, he still would have piloted it.

_'Scratch that. I have one regret. That I didn't get to see Flay one last time...'_

Suddenly, there was a blinding light, an instant of pain, and then oblivion claimed him.

* * *

"NO!!!" Kira screamed as the Raven exploded, the fireball engulfing the Freedom.

The Providence's DRAGOONs returned and it took off. Rau laughed as he left. The Raven was gone and chances were that the Freedom had been damaged in that explosion and won't be chasing after him any time soon. "Now to deal with Lacus Clyne." he said.

* * *

Flay smiled as she saw the white mobile suit block the beam of the mobile suit from her nightmare. Then the Raven appeared. It was damaged but for the first time, in a long time, Flay felt truly safe. But her smile quickly disappeared when the Raven pushed the white mobile suit out of the path of a pair of beams. The Raven's armor turned off as it started to shake violently. Then she heard the words over the radio. The words she would never forget for the rest of her life.

"I want you to do something for me Kira. Stop this bastard and tell Flay I love her and I'm sorry."

An instant later, the Raven was consumed in a ball of fire along with the white mobile suit. At that moment, Flay froze. The outside world seemed to become nonexistent. Save for herself and the fireball that destroyed the Raven. It couldn't be possible... Chris couldn't be dead... It couldn't be real...

But it was.

The outside world returned. Flay screamed out Chris's name, tears pouring out of her eyes, her fists pounding on the window.

* * *

The Archangel

Murrue, Samuel, and the rest of the bridge crew could only watch the distant lights of battle from the Freedom and it's unknown opponent. As much as they wanted to, they were in no condition to support Kira.

"Archangel! Archangel, this is Liz!" Elizabeth called as the Athena approached the ship. "Are you alright?"

Suddenly, there was an explosion from where Kira was fighting. "Whoa...What was that?" Liz asked she pulled alongside the Archangel.

Miri let out a loud gasp. Everyone else on the bridge turned to her. "I-I...I just lost the Raven..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

* * *

The Freedom was thrown downwards from the force of the Raven's explosion. But Kira quickly stopped the Freedom's fall and took off for Jachin Due. His eyes dilated and his face barely containing the anger and sorrow he felt.

* * *

Saul, Nicol, Yzak and Dearka weren't fairing that well against Shani, Clotho and Orga. The Extended and their machines were just too good. Shani swung his scythe down on the Duel. Barely managed to avoid the swing, but lost his rifle in the process. Orga fired his cannon at the Surge and the Buster. Saul was able to dodged the shots, but Dearka wasn't so lucky. A beam tore through the Buster's left shin, severing the limb. Dearka fired back with his cannons and missiles. But the Calamity was able to evade the beams and shoot down the missiles. Nicol had been forced to stay behind his shield because Clotho was firing his beam cannon nearly nonstop at him. Suddenly, the Raider's hammer slammed into the Neo Blitz's shield, tossing the machine back like a rag doll. Clotho smirked as he aimed his Zorn beam cannon at Nicol. "Game Ov-AAAAAAAAH!!!" Clotho screamed as the drugs burned out of his system and the withdrawal pain hit him.

He wasn't alone either.

"AAAAAARGH!!!"

"GAAAAAAAH!!!"

The Raider, the Forbidden and the Calamity all stopped. Their pilots screaming and thrashing in agony.

"We're out of time!" Orga screamed. "We...have to...get back!"

But the Dominion was dead in the water, taken out by the Archangel. Azrael was gone. But so were the doctors and the medicine to take the pain away.

"Where?!" Clotho screamed. "Dominion's gone!"

That was the question. Where could they go? The Earth Alliance Fleet was a fair distance away, and in retreat. And even then, they didn't have the medicine to take the pain away.

The former members of the Creuset Team stared at their now defenseless opponents. They could hear them screaming in agony over the comm. They weren't sure what they were going to do now. None of them were the kind to fire on defenseless targets.

"What are we going to do with them?" Nicol asked.

"Don't know." Saul replied. "But I'm not gonna fire on them as they are now."

"Me neither." Dearka added.

"Let's just leave them then." Yzak said.

"What?! And leave these guys here to die? They don't deserve that." Nicol said forcefully, surprising the others with his tone.

"Well, what do you suggest then?" Saul asked.

"We take them back to the Archangel."

"You can't be serious Nicol. These guys have been trying to destroy us since Orb." Dearka exclaimed.

"Still. We can't just leave them here." Nicol said.

Saul sighed. "He's right, of course. I'll get this one with the scythe."

The Surge moved to grab the Forbidden. Suddenly, the Forbidden backed away from him. It's movement jerky and clumsy. "Get...get back! I'll kill-AAARGH! You!" Shani managed to say as he raised his scythe defensively.

Orga and Clotho raised their own weapons as well. Like Shani, they're movements weren't anywhere near as good as they normally were. Nicol, Saul, Dearka and Yzak could easily take them out if need be. But none of them attacked. The pain overwhelmed Shani. He let out one last scream before passing out from the pain. "Shani!" Orga screamed.

Clotho suddenly let out a series of pained, crazed laughs. "We're dead...Ha ha ha ha...We're all dead...Ha ha ha ha ha ha...But I'm...gonna take you bastards with us!"

Clotho fired off his spherical breaker. Which went so wide that it completely missed all four of them without any of them trying to dodge. Clotho started to swing his hammer wildly, trying to hit them. But they easily avoid his pathetic swings. "Damn you-AAAAARGH!!!" Clotho screamed before his body gave out and he collapsed.

"Clotho...You bastards killed him...Killed them both...I'll...destroy you..."Orga said, firing all of the Calamity's guns.

Like Clotho, his aim was terrible. The only difference was, where Clotho had attacked with a single heavy ball on a cable, Orga was firing wildly and repeatedly. Still, Nicol, Yzak, Dearka and Saul, evaded the barrage. "Damn." Dearka swore. "This guy just isn't giving up."

"This is why we should have left them." Yzak said, blocking a beam with the Duel's shield, destroying it in the process.

"That wasn't the right thing to do. And you know that Yzak." Nicol said.

At that moment, Orga fired off a few more shots, completely draining the Calamity's battery. With the loss of his mobile suit's power, Orga shuttered and passed out.

"I think they're done." Saul said, approaching the Forbidden.

It didn't react in the slightest to his presence . He reached out and grabbed it. Again, no reaction. "Well, I got this one." he said.

"I'll get this one." Nicol said as the Neo Blitz grabbed the Raider. "Well, are you guys gonna help or not?"

"Fine." Dearka said with a sigh.

Yzak shook his head. "This is stupid. They'll just shoot us in the back when we aren't looking."

The Duel and the Buster grabbed the Calamity. They headed for the Archangel with their disabled enemies in tow. "Archangel. This is Nicol. We're coming back with the Duel and three of those new Earth Forces' machines. We're gonna need a doctor and some stretchers in the hanger when we get there."

* * *

Kevin roared as he fired all of the Massacre's Gatling guns and it's missiles on the Farsight and the Panther. The two mobile suits nimbly dodged the incoming fire. "This pilot's more beast than man." Diana said, firing on the Massacre.

"I know. All four are like this." John said. "All they care about is killing."

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Kevin shouted as he continued to fire blindly at the mobile suits.

Pain shot through through his body as the drugs began to burn themselves out of his system. But it did nothing to stop Kevin. They had to die! Every last enemy had to be destroyed!

Suddenly, his chest guns ran out of ammo as did his missile pods. His beam Gatling guns fired off a few more shots before they ran out of power. "NO! FIRE! DAMN YOU! FIRE!!!" Kevin shouted in frustration.

"He's out! Let's move in and finish him off!" John ordered.

"Yes sir." Diana said.

"DAMN YOU! DIE!!" Kevin shouted, discarding his Gatling guns for his sabers.

John drew his own beam saber as Diana drew her sword. Kevin swung his sabers down on the two approaching mobile suits. John and Diana raised their blades, blocking his. "It takes more than brute strength to beat us." Diana said.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! RAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Kevin screamed.

"Let us show you how a true warrior fights!" John roared.

The Farsight and the Panther, pushed the Massacre back and before Kevin could react, their swords sliced through the Massacre's body. Diana slashed high, cutting a big gash in the Massacre's upper body. John struck low, removing the legs.

Kevin roared, swinging his sabers wildly. Both pilots easily dodged his swings. But the swings were too wild and frantic to get close to the mobile suit again. "He just doesn't give up." John said, shaking his head.

"As I said, he's more beast than man. And the most dangerous beast is a cornered beast." Diana said.

John grabbed a floating Canus missile launcher, still being held by a severed GINN arm. "Indeed. A wounded, cornered beast will never stop until you or it, is dead." he said, taking aim.

Kevin roared and howled like an animal. His right eye was twitching uncontrollably as poured out of the corners of his mouth. He pushed the Massacre towards the two, swinging his sabers erratically. "Rest in peace, nameless man-beast." John said, firing the launcher.

The missiles streaked towards the Massacre and hit it. Kevin saw a blinding light. His mother appeared before him. His eyes widened. "Mommy..." he whispered in soft, almost child-like, tone. Then the light took him and his suffering finally ended.

* * *

The Eternal

"It may have phase shift armor, but it's not invincible." Andy said. "Fire!"

The guns of the Eternal, the Kusanagi, the Odin and the Valkyire fired. All of the beams impacted the side of GENESIS. But it had no effect on it's armor.

"Damn." Andy swore. "This thing is nothing but trouble."

Athrun detached his METEOR. "We'll force our way into Jachin Due and destroy the controls." Athrun said as he and Cagalli raced for Jachin Due itself. "It may be the only way to stop them."

"Kano, Kikuchi, provide cover for them!" Kisaka ordered.

"Sir."

"Hilda! Take your team and back them up!" Lisa added.

"Roger."

Two Astrays and three GuAIZs quickly moved alongside the Justice and the Strike Rouge, heading Jachin Due.

"Commander! Incoming mobile suit!" Martain shouted.

"It's a shame, really. I did enjoy your songs." Rau said, approaching the Eternal. "But the real world isn't as kind as the one in pop songs!"

His DRAGOON pods deployed, firing upon the Clyne Faction forces. The beams hit the Eternal, damaging the pink warship as other beams tore through several Astrays and GuAIZs.

Suddenly, Rau felt that presence again. Kira roared, firing his beam rifle on the Providence, forcing Rau to stop his attack on the Eternal and focus the Freedom.

"It's all your fault!" Kira yelled, still firing on the Providence. "You're the one to blame!"

Rau fired the Providence's guns at the Freedom as his DRAGOON fired. But Kira dodged the beams and shot down two of pods.

"Shout all you want, but it's too late now!" Rau shouted, lunging at the Freedom, his saber drawn.

Kira drew his own beam saber and the two blades clashed.

"This is our destiny! People knew where they were heading when they choose to walk this path!"

"Shut up!"

"Justice and faith, ignorance and escapism! They never learn! They never listen! We have reached the end of that path. There's no way to prevent it now!" The two mobile suits broke off. "Mankind vanquished, at last! Just as they deserve!"

All of Rau's remaining DRAGOONs fired at the Freedom.

Kira evaded the beams, heading for the Providence. "I won't allow it!!" he shouted as he fired at Rau. "You're crazy, and so is your logic!"

Countless beams rained down upon the Freedom. Kira managed to dodge most, but a beam tore through the Freedom's right leg. "That's how people think! You know it!" Rau shouted.

Kira fired, destroying a DRAGOON pod. "You're wrong. People aren't like that at all!"

Rau fired his rifle, hitting Kira's shield, knocking it off the Freedom's arm. "Ha! How are they not like that?! What's your proof?! This is a world where people's hearts are filled with hatred, where fingers have no purpose other than to pull triggers! What do you believe in, and why do you?"

"You don't understand anything else!" yelled Kira as he drew saber again, swinging it down on the Providence.

Rau ignited his saber and the two clashed once more. "Of course! After all, people can only under stand what they've experienced! Why torment yourself saying 'eventually someday'?! How long have you been fighting with your mind clouded by that brand of sweet poison?!"

* * *

Jachin Due Control Room

Patrick scowled at the Clyne Faction's feeble attempts to destroy GENESIS. "Those ships are being run by a little girl and a bunch of Naturals and traitors! Why haven't we destroyed them yet?!" he demanded.

No one answered him. Much of the operators and officers in the room were becoming less than willing to follow his orders. What was the point of firing GENESIS again? The surviving Alliance forces wouldn't be enough to destroy Jachin Due's forces. They had won. So why fire it again?

Patrick grit his teeth at the silence. "Input the target! East coast of North America! Atlantic Federation capital, Washington D.C.!"

"But Chairman, we've already won the battle!" Commander Yuri exclaimed, trying to stop him. "If we fire that, we'll wipe out all life on Earth! There's reason for that!"

Patrick drew his pistol, spun around and fired. Shocking everyone. "They're right there! Our enemies are still out there! Why would even suggest that we not fire it?!" Patrick ranted as everyone stared at him.

Seeing that no one else was going to do it, Patrick pushed one of the operators from his console and started typing away. "We've got to fire it again! Before they can retaliate! The enemy must be annihilated! Why don't you all understand that?!"

"Your Excellency! Our forces are still in the line of fire!" an officer said.

"They're soldiers of ZAFT! They're prepared to lay down their lives for ZAFT!" Patrick screamed.

"You...bastard..." Yuri weakly yelled, firing his own pistol at Zala.

He fired three times. Each bullet hit Patrick's chest. Patrick let out a liquid gurgle as his body floated backwards. Yuri let out one last gasp of breath before he died. By now, confusion and horror filled the ranks of the ZAFT personnel. Many began to abandon their positions.

At that moment, Athrun, Cagalli and their comrades entered the command center. The sight of a group of armed soldiers, broke the courage and morale of the remaining ZAFT officers. Everyone fled. Leaving only those seven pilots and the dying Patrick Zala.

A horrified Athrun rushed to his father's side. He may not have been a doctor, but Athrun knew his father was dying. And there was nothing, he or anyone else could do. Patrick grasped his son's shoulder. "Fire...GENESIS...We must...make the...world...ours..."

Patrick cough up some blood and life left his eyes.

Tears began to well up in Athrun's eyes. "Father!"

But he didn't have time to mourn. At that moment, a timer appeared on all of the consoles in the command center. Someone had set off Jachin Due's self destruct. Athrun rushed over to the controls. He had to make sure that GENESIS was deactivated. He started to type away until he saw it. "No... They've activated the self-destruct sequence and set it so the when that happens, GENESIS will fire!"

Athrun frantically tried to stop it. But he couldn't. Not in time to stop it anyway. He slammed his fist into the console. "I can't stop it from here."

Then an idea occurred to him. It was crazy. But it was possibly the only way they could stop it.

* * *

ZAFT Military Headquarters

Ezalia Joule, as well as everyone else in the command center, were stunned by what was happening. The forces around Jachin Due were in disarray. And the fortress itself was being evacuated. Added to this, they had lost contact with the Chairman.

Suddenly, the command center's main doors opened. A group of ZAFT soldiers entered the room, their rifles leveled at the group. Ian Kessel and Eileen Canaver entered the room. "Hello Ezalia. We're here to take back control." Ian said.

* * *

A DRAGOON pod fired at the Freedom. But Kira dodged the beam and fired at it, destroying the pod.

"Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha! No matter what happens now, I've won!" Rau yelled in triumph. "When Jachin Due self-destructs, GENESIS will fire! There's no way the process can be stopped. Earth will burn, and the ensuing cries of the victims will trigger battle anew! This will be a day of reckoning for everyone! This is their destiny. They led us to the inevitable end. You even helped bring this about, boy!"

Rau fired his rifle at Kira as his remaining DRAGOONs fired. Kira avoided some, but several beams hit. A chuck of his right shoulder and the tips of several of his left wings, were blown off. But Kira fired back, severing the Providence's left arm. But Rau managed to fire back and destroy the Freedom's beam rifle and right arm. Kira quickly combined his beam saber with the other beam saber, creating a single, twin-bladed weapon.

* * *

Inside GENESIS

The Justice race through the interior of GENESIS, the Strike Rouge close behind. "What are you planing to do Athrun?" Cagalli asked.

"I'm going to flying into GENESIS's core and activate the Justice's self-destruct." Athrun explained. "The explosion of it's nuclear reactor will destroy GENESIS. Cagalli...Get out of here."

"But if you do that, you'll-"

"It's our only option! Get out of here!"

Athrun had to end this madness. His father created this monstrous weapon. He would be the one to destroy. And if he had to die to destroy it, so be it. He would erase his father's sins.

"Athrun!" Cagalli pleaded.

"Don't follow me." Athrun said, releasing the Justice's flightpack.

It slammed into the Strike Rouge, stopping it as the Justice sped forward. It wasn't long before he reached the core. He stopped and opened the self-destruct panel. Athrun started entering the code, when...

"ATHRUN!!" Cagalli shouted, approaching the Justice.

"Cagalli?!"

"Wait! Stop running!" she pleaded as her eyes watered. "The hardest battle is to keep on living!"

* * *

"Do you think you can stop what's going to happen?! Nobody can do anything about it! The whirlpool of hatred is engulfing the universe!" Rau shouted.

"It world is still worth protecting!" Kira roared, charging at the Providence.

Rau fired at the Freedom, but everyone of his shots missed. Kira swung his sabers, slicing off the Providence's right arm. Rau backed away, firing the few DRAGOONs he had left at the Freedom. He blew off the Freedom's head and some pieces of it. But Rau couldn't stop him. Kira thrust his saber forward, impaling the Providence.

* * *

The self-destruct timer reached zero. Explosions tore through Jachin Due as GENESIS's firing sequence started. Kira jumped away from the Providence, desperately trying to escape the firing zone. The massive beam shot out at the lone mobile suit, obliterating it. At that very moment, within GENESIS's core, the Justice's reactor exploded.

All board the ships of Clyne Faction, people watched as GENESIS exploded. They had stopped the insane genocidal attacks on both Earth and the PLANTs. But it was a bittersweet victory. Chris Dante. Mu La Flaga. Natarle Badgiruel. Uzumi Nara Athha. Tolle Koenig. And so many more lives had been claimed by this war.

Suddenly, a voice came over the comm. "This acting ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman Eileen Canaver. At the moment, ZAFT is calling for a ceasefire with Earth Alliance Military. Once the ceasefire has been accepted, we ask for the halt of all military operations between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, so peace talks can begin."

"It's finally over." Samuel Dante said, raising from his chair in the CIC. "The world is moving towards peace once again."

"Hey. What do you think will happen to us now?" Nicol asked. "I mean, didn't we technically betray ZAFT by fighting alongside the Archangel?"

"Probably. But I don't really care." Saul said. "I'm through with the military. With this war over, I'm gonna get my discharge."

"Figures a lazy ass like you would say that." Yzak said.

Saul shrugged. "I'm tired of war. We're not all like you, Scarface."

"Hey!"

"I'd rather just find a quiet place and live out my life away from war." Saul said.

"Same here." Nicol said, staring out into space. "Same here."

Flay stared out into space, Chris's dog tags in her hands.

"I figured he gave those to you." Samuel said, approaching the girl. "My dog tags have always protected the one who holds them. No matter how impossible the situation."

Flay looked down at the dog tags. Chris had told her that they lucky and would protect her. But it cost him his own life. She clenched her fist around the dog tags. "Take them." she said, handing them to him. "If he hadn't given them to me, he wouldn't have died. He wouldn't have left me and our child alone."

"No." Samuel said, putting his hand on hers, pushing it back to her. "I gave it to Chris to protect him and he gave it to you to protect you. He wanted to protect you. And his spirit still does. Keep them so he can continue to protect you and your child."

"Ma'am, we're receiving word from the 11th Fleet."

"Put them through."

John Alaric's face appeared on the screen. "It's over...It's finally over." he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's your status Archangel? Do you need any assistance?"

"We're damaged but we're not in any immediate danger." Murrue paused for a moment before saying the next part. "But...But we lost the Strike and the Raven."

"Damn...I'm sorry to hear that." John said. "What about the Freedom, the Justice and the Strike Rouge?"

"We lost contact with them."

"Don't worry. They're out there. Me and my boys will find them."

* * *

Kira found himself floating in space. Nearby was what remained of the Freedom. He figured had an hour of air left. Maybe a little more. But that really didn't matter to him at the moment. He thought about all that had happened since Heliopolis. The battles he fought, the people he had killed... and the friends he had lost.

"Where are we... What will happen now that we've come through to this time in space..." he asked to no one, his tears floating before his face.

Suddenly, he saw something he never expected to see. Birdy flying towards him and behind it, a light. The light grew as it drew closer.

It was the Strike Rouge. It's cockpit was open and inside sat Cagalli and Athrun. Both were smiling with tears of joy in their eyes and floating around their faces.

Kira couldn't help but smile. "It's our world."

Cagalli and Athrun jumped out of the Strike Rouge, heading for him. The three of them embraced in big hug, still weeping tears of joy.


	38. After Phase: Between the Stars

Yo everybody. Here it is. This chapter is more like an mini-chapter than a full chapter, but it's like the SEED epilouge. A short, little thing. And with that, SEED is officially done. Not much else to say. I've added a little peak at Destiny at the end. Two of the new Gundams that will be in Destiny. Speaking of Destiny, I will tell you one thing about it. The Earth Alliance won't fracture nearly as much as it did in Destiny. I just couldn't stand that about Destiny. Junius Seven is dropped on Earth to wipe out all live on Earth and yet half of Earth acts like that isn't a good enough reason to fight a war. Which I realistically, couldn't see happening as much as it did.

And, know many of you were stunned by Chris's death and don't want to believe he's dead. But Chris is dead. When I spared Nicol, I wanted there to be a death that would be as tragic, if not more, as his's. Flay was out of the question. From the very beginning, I was going to have her survive SEED. Kira, Lacus, Athrun and Cagalli were out of the question, as they're needed for Destiny. And many of the other characters just didn't seem to have the same punch. So that left Chris. It was a hard decision. I weighted both options for quite some time. And I chose the path most wouldn't take. I chose to kill him.

And the name pulled is now a dead tie. So if you haven't made a choice, vote. Otherwise, I'll have to cast the tiebreaker vote.

Alexander: 4

Virgil: 4

Nero: 2

**After Phase: Between the Stars**

The Marshall Islands

One and a Half Months After the Second Battle of Jachin Due

Kira sat on the porch of Reverend Malchio's orphanage, staring out at the setting sun. The sounds of children playing filled the air. But another sound began to fill the air. The sound of the twin turbine engine of a Heli. Kira looked up. The two-man craft approached the orphanage, landing on the pier.

Kira stood up as Athrun and Cagalli climbed out of the aircraft. "Lacus, they're here." Kira called into the orphanage.

"I'll be there in a moment." Lacus replied.

Athrun and Cagalli reached the porch. Cagalli embraced her brother in a hug. "How have you been Kira?" she asked.

"I'm fine." Kira replied. "How have you two been?"

"Alright. Repairing the damage done to Orb during the war has been long and difficult. But everyone has been working hard to restore Orb to what it was before the war."

* * *

Later That Night

The sounds of talking and eating filled the orphanage as Kira, Lacus, Cagalli, Athrun, Reverend Malchio and the children began to eat their dinner. While the children were talking about stuff that normal children talk about, the four teens were discussing adult matters. "Still, it really is a hard thing to do. Orb was completely ravaged by the war. That's why we can truly understand the foolishness of war and how precious peace is." Cagalli said as they ate. "But there are countries that don't."

"It's those that believe, 'If you don't trust the other person, don't lower you gun.', isn't it?" Lacus asked.

Cagalli nodded. "Yes." she answered. "I can't help but wonder if the PLANTs are having the same problem."

"All of us must lower our guns or else nothing will ever change." Lacus said.

Cagalli sighed. "Even through we should already understand this... It just seems like there are those that just can't, or won't, understand it."

"How are those three pilots doing?" Lacus asked, seeking to change the subject.

Lacus shown a great deal of concern for the three Alliance pilots that they had captured at Jachin Due. Despite the fact that those three were among the most dangerous opponents that they had ever fought and more than once, they had come close to killing them in battle. Of course, given the current state they were in, it's hard to believe that they were the same dangerous pilots that they had fought at Orb, Mendel and Jachin Due. They could barely move their own bodies in the state were currently in, much less pilot a mobile suit with the skill of an ace.

"Those three? Well, the doctors say that they will pull through. But it will still be weeks before they'll able to move on their own. Much less care for themselves." Cagalli replied. "Whatever the Alliance did to them, it was pretty severe. But when they do recover, just what will we do with them? I mean, we can't just give them back Alliance, can we?"

"Of course not." Lacus said. "They're as much a victim as anyone else during the war. And sending back to those that did that to them, will only make things worse for them."

Athrun nodded. "Yes. It's likely that those in the Alliance military that ordered that done to them, will only subject them to more experiments or dispose of them to prevent their existence from becoming public." he said. "But even then, those three are wild and violent. And their bodies and minds have been heavily altered. They not be able to do anything but fight."

Lacus shook her head. "I don't believe that. They were normal people once before. They can be again."

"But we don't even know who they were." Athrun argued. "They could have been violent criminals before they were experimented on."

"If they are, then we will face that when and if we reach that bridge. Until then, we should make every effort to help them."

Athrun let out a tired sighed as he scratched his head. "Alright. Alright." he said, defeated.

* * *

Later

After dinner, Kira had walked out onto the beach, as Lacus, Cagalli and the children cleared the tables, watching debris enter the atmosphere and burn up. Leaving trails of light in the night sky.

Even though it had been weeks since Jachin Due, his mind still went back there. To Rau's insane words, and to Chris's death. Both haunted him. Rau's words seemed to tear at what he believed in and expose the dark side of humanity. While Chris death brought him only sorrow and guilt. Countless times since the battle, he couldn't help but wonder if he could have done things differently. If he could have done something that would have spared Chris his fate.

Athrun walked up to him, pulling him from his train of thoughts. "It's strange, isn't it?" Kira asked. "I can't help but wonder, why am I still alive? What makes me so special? Why do I still get to be with my loved ones while others can't? Why do I get to be with Lacus while Flay will never see Chris again?"

Memories of Chris pushing him out of the path of the beams and Raven exploding filled his mind.

"We're all thinking that too, Kira." Athrun said. "I can't answer why we survived while others didn't. Maybe we survived to make sure that such tragedies won't happen again."

* * *

Elsewhere, Lacus and Cagalli stood on the porch, watching Kira and Athrun talk. "You know, I was amazed that you actually went onto the battlefield." Cagalli told the pink haired girl.

"Really?"

"Yeah. But being out there, seemed to suit you."

Lacus smiled. "Is that so?" she asked. "I was just trying to bring an end to the fighting the best way I could."

"Even then, you didn't have to go out on to the battlefield."

"How could I not, with Kira, Athrun, you and everyone else, out there risking their lives to bring peace? I sought to bring about peace, just like the rest of you. So why should I be the one to sat and watch from a safe distance?"

Cagalli nodded. "I see your point. Prehaps one day, no one will ever have to set foot on a battlefield."

* * *

Flay leaned on the railing of a balcony in her family's mansion in Orb. By pure chance, it had escaped the invasion of Orb with little damage. Unlike many other houses on Onogoro. Flay was wearing a simple blue dress that did little to hide the signs of her pregnancy. Around her neck, hung Chris's dog tags.

She had lost much in war. Her home on Heliopolis. Her father. ...And Chris. But there was one thing and only thing she had gained from the war. Her child. Chris's child.

Flay hadn't had any DNA test done to confirm who her child's father was, but she knew it was Chris's. Something deep within her, told her so.

"The tea's ready." Murrue called out from inside the mansion.

Flay turned around and entered the house. After she had returned to her family's mansion, she had offered it to any of the Archangel's crew that needed a place to stay. It was too large for her to live in by herself. Murrue, John and Andy had taken her up on that offer.

Flay sat down on chair as Murrue entered the living room with a tray. The older woman set the tray on the coffee table and sat down on the love seat across from her. Murrue poured them both a cup of tea. They silently drank their tea. They were both still grieving for the losses of the men they loved.

"This is good." Flay said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you." Murrue said before pausing to think of something to say to keep the silence from returning. "Ah...I have you chosen a name yet?"

Flay gently stroked the bulge on her abdomen. "No. Not yet. I honestly don't know were to begin with picking names. Course, I don't even don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."

"Well, you're better off picking on your own." Murrue said. "I had a friend from before the war, who was pregnant and asked her friends and family for advice. It was a big mistake. Everyone was bugging her with suggestions on her child's name for a week before she became fed up and told them all to shut up."

Both women laughed. Flay smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Yzak, followed by Dearka and Shiho, entered the ZAFT Government building. Through his face didn't show it, Yzak was nervous. Though he had fought plenty of battles, but the field of politics was something completely different. Something he wasn't sure that he was ready for.

"Ah! You're here Mr Joule." the newly elected National Defense Committee Chairman, Ian Kessel, called out as he approached the trio. "I was starting to wonder if you had gotten cold feet."

Yzak and Ian shook hands. "No sir. I'm sorry for being late." Yzak replied. "Ah...Sir, I was wondering, why was I asked to fill my mother's position on the Council? Surely there are more experienced people that can fill her role than me."

"True. But you have something they don't have. You fought in this war. And while it was caused by politicians, it was the younger generation that fought and died in the war. It is only fair that they have a voice during the peace talks. That's why I asked for you to fill your mother's position temporarily."

Ian patted Yzak on back. "Well Mr Joule, you're about to enter a battlefield more perilous and treacherous than any you've experienced before. Politics." Ian said, leading him to the Council chambers. "A word of advice, don't trust anyone in the field of politics. Because while we may be your friend one day, the next day, we could very likely stab you in back. So stay on your guard at all times."

* * *

John Alaric, Elizabeth and Johanna Dante entered a Morgenroete hanger. As soon as he entered, John's eyes were drawn to a large object sitting in the middle of the hanger. "So this is the project we're working on. For awhile there, I thought we'd be working on that new Murasame Project." he said, sipping a cup of coffee.

Johanna nodded as they walked forward. "Nope. We're working on this. It's a special request. Not a regular project for Orb."

"That doesn't surprise me. So is this a rebuild or a complete redesign?"

"Well...We could rebuild it." Liz said. "But it doesn't seem quite to just rebuild it."

"Indeed it doesn't." Samuel said as he and Andy entered the hanger.

Andy whistled. "Well now. I didn't think I'd be seeing this guy again."

"Yeah. The body was destroyed, but the head managed to survive. We've been asked to restore the head and have it placed on a mobile suit. We're trying to decide if we should rebuild as it was before, or create a new mobile suit for it." Johanna explained as the group gathered around the damaged head of the GAT-X305 Raven.

Samuel placed his hand on the Raven's faceplate. "It doesn't matter either. The Raven will fly again." he said. "We'll see to that."

* * *

A girl in a ZAFT Red Coat uniform stood before a grave. One among many graves. "It's funny. I never thought I would visit your grave, after all that happened between us." she said. "When I first heard you died, I thought it was just some plan of your's. Some plot that would aid you in your _goal_."

She sighed. "But then time passed, and I found myself more and more desperate to believe that you were still alive. That you had faked your death and were hiding somewhere. Because I didn't want you to be dead. As much as I grew to hate you, you were my father and I loved you." She sighed again. "But I guess there's no denying it. You died at Jachin Due. And I'm here just to say goodbye...Father."

The girl turned and left the grave with the name, Rau Le Creuset written on it.

* * *

And so it's finally done. And before anyone asks, the Allster mansion is the same one as the one Andy and Murrue living in during Destiny. At least in my story. But it is my belief that their mansion was the mansion owned by the Allsters.

And now for the mobile suit preview:

"_Start another war? Of course we are! We exist only to fight in wars and kill people like you Coordinator! Like all soldiers do! If you're too weak to understand that than you don't belong in that machine!"_ Treize Zabiarov

**Mobile Suit Serial Number**: ZGMF-X44S 'Specter'  
**Unit Type**: Prototype high mobility mobile suit  
**Powerplant**: Ultracompact energy battery  
**Special Equipment**: Variable Phase Shift Armor, Deuterion Beam Energy Supply System, Lightwave Pulse Thrusters, Twin Prototype Vernier Boosters  
**Armaments**: 4x MMI-GAU1717 12.5 mm CIWS, mounted on the head, 2x 'Cerebus' beam revolver with bayonet, stored on hip holders, 1x MMI-558 'Tempest' beam sword, stored on the inside of the shield, 1x MGX-2230 long range multi-phase beam cannon, mounted on right shoulder, 1x shield, mounted on the left arm  
**Pilot**: Treize Zabiarov, Suiren  
**Color**: Treize's colors: Black torso, head, shins, forearms. Gray faceplate, biceps, thighs. Red trim and head crest. Default/Suiren's colors: Silver, with black trimming, joints, hands, and shield.  
**Info**: The fourth stolen mobile suit from Armory One. Designed as a next generation high mobility mobile suit, it was equipped with the prototype Vernier Boosters. While the massive boosters enable it to achieve speeds unrivaled by normal mobile suits, the boosters can drain the battery if the high speeds are sustained for too long. Also, most pilots cannot handle it's maximum speed. To date, only two pilots have been able to successfully control it at it's maximum speeds. It's original pilot and the Extended pilot that stole it from Armory One.  
**Notes**: This was by far the hardest mobile suit I've come up with, simply because I couldn't pin down the outline of the MS I wanted. I'd work on it one day, then come back a couple days later, with an entirely new suit idea. Ultimately, after a binge watching of Gundam Wing, I came up with a Tellgeese style machine and decided that even if I came up with a better MS idea, I would stay with this one.

"_I won't let you bring down Junius Seven upon the Earth! Such a tragedies must never be unleashed on the world again!" _Flay Allster

**Mobile Suit Serial Number**: MBF-X135 Strike Raven  
**Unit Type**: general purpose mobile suit  
**Powerplant**: Ultracompact energy battery  
**Special Equipment**: Trans Phase Armor, Raven Striker Mk II backpack/subflight lifter, can be separated from main body and used as a subflight system.  
**Armament**: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, mounted in head, 1x 57 mm high-energy beam rifle, 2x beam sabers, stored in hips, 1x shield, mounted on left arm  
**Raven Striker Armaments**: 2x 52mm hyper velocity cannon, 2x M2M3 76mm machinegun, mounted on the underside of the wings  
**Pilot**: Flay Allster  
**Appearance**: It's body resembles the Strike with a backpack similar to the Raven's flightpack, save larger. And the railguns, when the pack is raised, sit next to the head like the beam guns on the Fatum-00. It's head is the scared head of the Raven.  
**Color**: Identical color scheme to the Raven. Primarily midnight blue with red trim. White thighs, biceps, and face.  
**Info**: The Strike Raven was designed by Johanna Dante, at the request of Flay Alster, in tribute to Chris Dante, who died when the Raven was destroyed during the Second Battle of Jachin Due. The largest piece of the Raven recovered by the Clyne Faction was it's head, which was restored and mounted on the Strike Raven. Again, at Flay's personal request. While it's body is designed after the Strike, it lacks the hardpoints for Striker packs, instead it's equipped with the Raven Striker Mk II backpack. A subflight unit based off the Raven's wings and the Justice's Fatum-00. When not activated, the wings are folded and the pack rests against it's back. When in use, the wings extend and the pack rises up like the Fatum.

Later everybody! See you all when Destiny comes!


End file.
